It's There, You Just Have To Look in The Right Place

     I pray often for God to arrange the circumstances surrounding this prayer so that they are as He needs them to be to answer. It is often frustrating to me to be unable to see how God is doing this and I sometimes wonder if He is. Last night I had the blessing of talking to my original prayer partner in this journey and through that conversation, was able to see that God has already been arranging circumstances to fulfill His vision for this request, I was just looking at the end result instead of the journey itself.
     We talked about the beginning and how God called each of us to this prayer. Stephanie mentioned  that she now realized how God had been preparing her to join me when I asked. She doesn't follow college football at all, but Tebow's outspoken faith and a life that backs it up caught her attention. She kept tabs on him through college and into the NFL. She knew who he was and could easily join in on a prayer that would allow my kids to meet a modern day hero of our faith. That was God preparing Steph long before I ever asked her to join with me.
     I believe I have said this in another post but I'll repeat here. I believe that Tebow being on the Broncos was no coincidence. I believe God took him there for this very reason. He played for a team I am a fanatic for. Had he been on another team, I seriously doubt he would have been the topic of discussion the way he was in our devotions, I wouldn't have paid much attention to him, other than he was a strong Christian, had he played for another team. He becomes the starting quarterback the year I have this particular group of kids, ones who want to be used of God. He takes Denver from a 1-4 record into the post season, this year affording me the opportunity to share with my students the impact God has on those around us when we live for Him. Fifteen days after UNINTIMIDATED was begun, he was traded to the Jets. God wanted these kids to become prayer warriors for him and waited until they were before He moved Tebow on. God was definitely arranging circumstances for me to begin this prayer and for UNINTIMIDATED to be started.
     When I pray for us to meet Tebow, I always include Stephanie and her family in that request. As we moved into summer God showed me that in order for that to happen school needed to be out so her children could travel. This was one possible reason He gave me for waiting until summer. As I shared that with Steph last night, she realized that for the first time she could recall school was starting after Labor Day...affording more time than usual for them to travel...is this God arranging circumstances, could be.
     The last thing I'll share happened last night as I prayed. I asked God to do something in the next 24 hours to bring us closer to a fulfillment. I then asked for a possible indication that He was working. I asked Him for knowledge of what it was He did, or at least a 'token for good' that HE was working and mentioned that maybe a news article on MSN would work since there had been none on him in quite awhile. Right before I went to bed, I looked at the news page and there it was, an article about Tebow. Even more convincing that this was God is the fact that the article wasn't on the site this morning. God is indeed working, even today, to arrange the circumstances.
     It's funny how here I've been begging God to do something to bring about an answer and getting frustrated because I couldn't see Him doing it and here all along He's been doing just that. I couldn't see it because I wasn't looking in the right places. When we pray, God does answer but often not the way we thought or expected Him to. Afterall, His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways but He is working and we can see it if we'll just look in the right place.