Focus on the WHY not the HOW

Things aren’t always what they appear to be.

We are in the midst of a series at my church about the HARD sayings of Jesus. One of Jesus’s last miracles during his last week of ministry was when He cursed the fig tree. ALL of Jesus’s other miracles had been LIFE GIVING miracles. This one–He destroyed the fig tree.

Scholars have debated WHY Jesus chose to do this as one of His final miracles for His disciples, but the truth of the matter is this–we will not EVER know because the disciples forgot to ask that question. Instead–they focused on the HOW.

Matthew 21:18-22
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I’ll be honest.

I was sitting there in church–worrying with something that is on my heart. We are retreat planning for hundreds of amazing, precious adoption moms–and our retreat filled up in 9 hours–leaving around 130+ moms on the wait list. I keep going over and over and over in my mind…HOW can we make it work Lord? I mean, the Lord did WONDERS…WONDERS I tell you through our last retreat. He showed up–and truly–we didn’t need to know HOW then. We were focusing too much on the WHY.

As I sat there–I thought, “The disciples were asking the WRONG question. Why didn’t they ask WHY!”

And then fresh as day (is that even a phrase or did I just make that up?) I heard the Lord say to my heart, “Andrea. I called you to this for a purpose. Stop focusing on the HOW. Focus on the WHY. And trust me.”

WHY? Why did you call us to do this mom retreat? Why, in my crazy world, do I (along with Christy and April) do backflips to pull this off? What was the WHY from the beginning? Focus on that.

What they were then–is still the WHY today…

1. For the LORD to show adoption moms how He has ALREADY provided for them through one another. (We were Created for Care–but we are also created to care FOR one another. EVERY single breakout session speaker and main speaker will share how God has met her, taught her, equipped her and been with her on the journey.)

2. For moms who are tired, anxious on a wait list, feeling discouraged, needing to connect with other believers with this same calling–to come together and be ENCOURAGED–simply by being together.

3. For the Lord to receive the glory for our adoption journeys and to come together in seeking Him for what He has ‘next’ in our lives.

THIS is what the Lord wants us to focus on. As we pray about how to grow–we need to remember to focus more on the WHY…more than anything else. And all the sudden…everything starts to be thinkable–so much more clear.

I’ll be the first to say that I am so amazed to see how many moms the Lord has called to adoption THROUGH HIM…because it was HIS calling for their lives…and it is an honor to be able to walk this journey with them. How I can’t WAIT to see so many of these moms in January–to worship with them–to laugh with them–and to learn with them. It’s going to be SOOOO amazing. (And don’t think we’ve forgotten about the other 130+…we are using all our creative juices for our to serve these precious moms too! Each and every one are so precious to our Creator–therefore, they are precious and so important to us as well!)

Are there things in your life right now–family related, plans ahead, financial mountains–that you just look at them and say, “HOW are you going to pull that off??” While it is a very valid question to ponder, I wonder if you are to go back to the WHY first and foremost.

A picture of our sweet boy A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK!!!!

My mirror in my DSLR camera is messed up so I have to send my camera in to be serviced–SO the next few days I might be sharing iPhone pics only:) I was downloading some pictures to my computer from my iPhone and came across this one (above). I smiled seeing that it was taken A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK! There were SO MANY “how” questions on my mind as I was going to and from therapies. In fact, that picture was taken just outside Children’s hospital one of our many therapies. He 13 months and sitting–but NO where near pulling up or standing even.

I am just so amazed at all the Lord has done in our lives. If you would have told me THEN that we would be completing a home study to bring home a little girl in one year–I would have thought you were crazy. I couldn’t see outside of our current circumstances–but His plan was so BIG and so PERFECT. God’s healing hand has been all over our son. And if you would have told me this time a year later I’d be chasing my sweet boy and telling him not to run in the house…I might have not believed you either. We knew in our hearts God had something amazing in store–and indeed, He has. So thankful, once again, for all He has done!!! (And all He wants to do ahead!)

P.S. Rico Suave jets out Africa at the end of this month…SO our home study coordinator has challenged us to be DONE with our home study by THEN! Ya think we can do it!!! GAME on! Rico Suave said he’s up for the challenge…he does after all, have the sacred binder:) Y’all have a good Labor Day weekend!!!!