Alva Review-Courier -

I think God doesn’t give you answers to your prayers sometimes to show you that his answers that he reveals later are so much better.

Last week I had decided that I had to write about the farm this week. What direction I was going to take was still a mystery, but I knew that I had neglected writing about the farm lately, so I asked God to give me direction, which I usually do on a daily basis.

I was going to write about being overwhelmed but also knowing we have to get certain things done before spring hits or it will never get done. I asked God for his direction, yet his answer didn’t slap me in the face and make me aware of what I was going to write about.

By Tuesday or Wednesday I knew I had to write about what happened on the football field in Cincinnati and what followed across the country. I had to write about people bowing their heads and having a personal conversation with our Lord. But I was going down all sorts of rabbit holes and how in the world was I going to combine an article about farming and football and God? I asked God how to take this recipe and mix the ingredients into some sort of cohesive mold that makes sense. I waited and listened, yet no answer.

By midweek, I knew I had to include the debacle in the House Speaker election. Yet, how was I going to combine farming and the miracle on the field and also the debacle in DC? It was like they needed to be three separate articles. I prayed once again for direction and I waited for an answer.

By Friday and Saturday I was starting to panic a little. I was wondering how I was going to mold all these ideas into one clear and concise topic to write about. In fact, I didn’t know how I was going to get them into an unclear and unconcise column either. So I thought I’d wait until after church to write. Lots of times I pick up ideas of how to finish articles at church. I find ways of putting things together at church, so I put it off until Sunday afternoon.

Then we went to Mom’s to eat Sunday dinner, like we always do and still I had no answer. When we walked into our house after dinner, Ilooked at my phone and saw I had a message from one of my friends from Bible study letting us know his aunt had passed away. His aunt was one of the most godly women I have ever known. She gave and she gave and she gave some more. She gave to her family and she gave to those outside of her family and made them her family. I knew her well and thought this afternoon to myself that there wasn’t anything else she could have done to glorify God, but you know what? I bet she thought she could do more. Then at that moment, it was like light shown down on me on how to fit all of these things together.

The common denominator in all of these is you can always do more.

We can get everything accomplished on the farm, not just because we have to but because we can do more, with God as our leader. We can work harder. We can prioritize. We can be more efficient.

Look at what was accomplished on the football field in Cincinnati. So many more things than just a young man’s life was saved. How many people in that stadium and across the country in homes and bars and restaurants bowed their heads in fervent prayer to our Lord?

If somebody had told me that one of the most liberal stations and corporations in the country would have allowed one of their television anchors to lead a public prayer on air, I would have asked you what you had been smoking. I am still in awe that ESPN didn’t cut away to some other programming or to a commercial, but they didn’t and I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of all of that and how it has worked in the greater narrative of the transformation that this country may be undergoing.

Like what was said in Sunday school this morning, it seems like a revival may be coming. What more can we do?

You won’t get me to say that I agree 100 percent with the Freedom Caucus. I will say that if those 20 few house members who held up Kevin McCarthy’s speakership intentions were pure, then job well done. I don’t trust any politician, but those Republicans could have checked it in with a cursory vote and been on their way, but they didn’t.

Whether you agree with what they were fighting for or not, you have to admit they were fighting like the third monkey on the Ark and it was starting to rain. They realized they could do more.

My friend’s aunt did more. More than was ever expected of her. She loved so many kids and welcomed tons of kids into her home and loved on them. Today, God, through such a beautiful soul, helped me finish writing my column this week. God answered my prayers today. Prayers that I had prayed all week were answered through somebody who passed away, but God waited to unveil his perfect plan in his perfect time. To me, she did more, even in death.

Luke 12:22-23 says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothes.”

We all can do more. We might think we can’t but we can. My prayer for you is to realize what you can do. It is always more than you think.

I didn’t know where this article was going before today. Isn’t it funny where God takes you?

Everyone have a blessed week.