The apostle Paul had one overriding desire: that fellow Jews would embrace the Messiah he had encountered. “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart,” he said. “For I could wish that I myself were . . . cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers” (Rom. 9:2-3 NIV). Yet in city after city his fellow Jews rejected him and the Christ he preached.
In his most elegant letter, Paul set as his centerpiece (Rom. 9–11) a passionate passage in which he struggled openly with this great unanswered prayer of his life. He acknowledged one important side benefit of this distressing development: The Jews’ rejection of Jesus led to His acceptance by the Gentiles. Paul concluded that God hadn’t rejected the Jews; to the contrary, they had the same opportunity as Gentiles. God had widened, not closed, the embrace of humanity.
Paul’s prose began to soar as he stepped back to consider the big picture. And then came this burst of doxology:
Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out! (Rom. 11:33).
The unsolved mysteries and unanswered prayers all fade to gray against the panorama of God’s plan for the ages.
In the end, unanswered prayer brings me face to face with the mystery that silenced Paul: the profound difference between my perspective and God’s. — by: Phillip Yancey (FOR: Our Daily Bread; 2/12/12)
Prayer imparts the power to walk and not faint. —Chambers
Romans 11:26-36
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Dear Mychal, I find myself considerably humbled so often when I read your daily fare, because you reach out and grasp the heart, the core meaning of so much, and you are able to articulate it into context so well and open eyes which saw but did not understand, and open the mind of some of us who have read, but still need the addition of your own words, to fully comprehend.
You have reached way in, and pulled out a real piece which speaks to all who truly believe, and work to help those they work with, or spend time in other ways with, but can’t seem to find the right words. I know Paul’s writings fairly well, but I much better understand this particular passage today, as I have failed to so many times before. Your strength and your purpose supports my faith and furthers my understanding, always adding to, never taking anything away from.
God has truly Blessed you with his word, and so many others through you. I pray he will continue and you will continue to be both teacher and inspiration to so many.
from the bottom of my heart,
Sincerely,
John McClain