Going To God First

I recently attended a Christian conference by a well known teacher. During the conference, she stressed to me the importance of going to God first. She asked, "how many of you out there get a problem and then go tell 5 of your friends and later that day remember to pray about the problem? You need to go to God first, not to your friends who don't know what they're doing, either. He wants to be number one in your life!"

I thought about this and relayed it to a close friend of mine. The next time you have a problem, stop and pray. Don't pick up the phone and call anyone. Stop and pray for God to send you someone to talk to about the problem. See what He does.

My friend and I agreed this was what we were going to do. That was last Thursday night. The next morning....I got a problem. Something hurt me and began to crush my spirits. I had been expecting this "thing" to happen but when it did, I was caught off guard. I CHOSE to be upset and hurt by the "thing" that happened. What did I do?

I called my boyfriend. I didn't go to God. I called JAC and carried on about how low I felt. Problem was, JAC had so much going on he didn't have time to deal with me. I hung up the phone even more hurt than I was before. Now what?

Oh yeah! God! I was supposed to go to Him first! So, I bowed my head and prayed hard, asking for forgiveness, asking for comfort and trusting God to send me the person HE wanted to help out with the issue.

I finished praying, looked up at my computer and within 5 minutes, I received one of the most beautiful e-mails I have ever received. It was from someone I met through Riverview and someone I consider to be one of my closest friends. For no reason at all, this friend praised me, encouraged me, lifted my spirits and he thanked me for sharing my struggles. At the end of the e-mail, he wrote, "Funny how we're sometimes used by God and don't even realize it, huh?"

Funny. I wonder if my friend knew God was using him at that moment.

I need to go to the Lord first and after going to Him, I need to TRUST in Him. Yes, seek counsel from others but the next time a major OR a minor issue shows up, bow your head and ask Him to send someone in your life to help you. And then have faith.