Nancy Hughes: Who has the answer?

Call to me and I will answer you and tell
you great and unsearchable things
you do not know.”
Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

Nursing school was an amazing experience for me. No two days were ever the same. As students we rotated through different aspects of the medical profession, from pediatrics to geriatrics, from surgery to emergency rooms. All areas were important in our training to become the most competent nurses that we could be.

Early one morning we were observing a procedure and the physician was explaining through a protective mask what he was doing. I was at the back of the viewing area and could not clearly understand him so I whispered to the student beside me “What did he call that type of suture?”

Her answer did not make sense to me so I turned to another student with the same question. Her response was completely opposite from what I had just heard. I asked 3 or 4 more students and their answers were just as varied.

Shaking my head, I turned to see our nursing instructor looking directly at me. “Now that you have asked everyone else, why don’t you ask the one who knows the answer?” she gently corrected me.

And she was right. I had the expert - my instructor - in front of me and yet I tried to get my answer from everyone else.

I hate to admit it, my friends, but there are times when I do that very thing in my spiritual life. I am faced with a situation or problem and instead of going directly to the One who has every answer I instead look at other sources to help me.

Here’s the question: would I do that with anything else in my life? For example, if my father was Mario Andretti and my car started making funny noises, who would I turn to for help? Or what if my father was Bill Gates and my computer crashed? Who would I trust with my computer files?

In the same way, my Father is God and He should be my first source to find answers for everything I am facing. Yes, I know that there are great Christian resources that are an encouragement and the Holy Spirit will often nudge me to share with a Christian friend and prayer warrior. But my first thought should be one of “I need to take this to my Father.”

Today’s Scripture is a promise from the Lord. When He says “Call to me and I will answer you . . .” He is encouraging us to bring all our seemingly unsolvable problems and tough situations to Him because He will answer us.

Jeremiah must have found that promise to be true in his own life because he spent more than 40 years faithfully going before God and then sharing His truth with a world that did not want to listen or believe.

Just as I should have taken my question to my nursing instructor, I need to bring all my problems before my Father. He truly is the one who knows the answer.

Father, there is no problem too big for you. Thank You for wanting me to share everything in my life with you and thank you for your answers. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

When you are confronted with a situation that needs a solution, where do you turn first for answers?

Do you ever think that your problem is too big for God to handle? Why or why not?

Application

Journal a situation or problem that you are facing today.

Beside that problem, journal three promises from the Lord in His Word that tell you He is able to handle everything that you face. Praise Him for His answers.

Power Verses

Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV) “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

Psalm 34:17 (NIV) “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”

Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us . . ."

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)