One of the things I hate is when someone claims I'm not doing something that I really am doing. That seemed to be very common with my last four jobs. It started at a daycare I was working at. The director sat me down and told me that a lot of the parents were concerned I wasn't having circle time with the kids. I was supposed to come up with my own curriculum, and since I fall short in coming up with ideas, I did circle time almost all day everyday. Needless to say, I was very upset. 

Another job I was at, I was told how I was never seen doing one of my daily tasks.. The thing about that, was that I did that all the time, too. 

The last time I was told anything like that, I was told I acted like I didn't care about my job.. and that was bogus considering I was probably the only one that actually cared about doing my job. 

Being told I'm not doing something I knew I was doing started making me question whether or not I needed to do more. Maybe I thought I was doing all these things but really wasn't. Either way, it was always just as crushing to hear it. 

I was reflecting on this all today and then it hit me, I think we do the same thing to God. We want Him to move and change and work in our lives... but when we don't see the results, we just resolve that He's not doing anything at all. We don't see it, so He's not doing it. We hear He's not doing it, so He's not doing it. We don't get the results we want, so He's not doing it. 

But.... 

That's not true. 

The fact that we see no evidence does not mean that something isn't at work. It doesn't mean it's not happening. That's just what we like to conclude because we don't see it, or someone else tells us. The talks I received bout what I wasn't doing were given based on hearsay. Someone is always zoning in at the wrong time and not seeing what goes on when they're not around. 

I kind of think God works in the same way... We zone into what we asked Him to do at the moment we want a result and don't see it.. so we write it off as it not happening. Maybe that was His way of gently trying to tell me that's what I do to Him. Or maybe He just wanted me to realize that just because I don't see it, it doesn't mean He's not at work. Whatever the case, I see that I've done this to Him many many times and I will be the first to admit it. 

Relationships don't go as I planned, so I give up. 

Work doesn't go as I want it to, so I give up.

People don't act like I want them to, so I give up. 

God doesn't answer me, so I give up. 

You can name any situation in my life that is strong and long lasting, and I can tell you I was ready to give up on it many many times in the beginning. I admit it, I'm incredibly impatient.. 

But this realization today is something I hope to carry with me. I hope it's something you can carry, too. Just because we don't see what we want to in the moment we want to, it doesn't mean the results aren't going to happen. Chances are, the results will be bigger and better than we would have imagined it... had we gotten what we wanted when we wanted it. 

Just a thought.