I am a member of a spiritual accountability group which taught me a particular prayer I say often, but never so fervently as I now cling to the line of it that goes:

“Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy love, and Thy way of life.” *

I recognize a bit of bargaining in that petition, but I like to remember that God’s purposes are always fulfilled (Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 14:24, 46:10), and His Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). So, rather than bargaining, I am attaching my troubles to the obstacles of God’s purpose to ensure they are removed. It is that divine bulldozing I am seeking especially now.

As a missionary in training, I recognize that my outcomes are particularly attached to God’s purposes. I acknowledge that my future is not mine, but God’s, and that He has not set me on a course of failure and destruction, but of vitality and grace. As a pitcher is filled not to remain on a shelf but to be poured out into other vessels, I am not equipped for my own edification but for the building up of the Church and its parts.

I am not yet ready to publish my particular concern, but I do covet your prayer support. Please pray that by His Word, God guides, comforts, and heals.