Have you ever poured your heart out to God in prayer about something, only to have things get worse? It can be like a slap in the face, maybe even shaking your faith or making you wonder if God’s really there at all.

If you’ve been part of our Praying Christian Women community for a while, you may have heard Alana and I talk about the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Alaska in November of 2018. The ground around my family’s home liquefied, causing the foundation to literally sink and tilt sideways. It was only sunken 6-7 inches at the deepest point, but in addition to the damage caused inside the house by the intense shaking, doors wouldn’t open and close, bouncy balls rolled downhill in the hallway and we found ourselves in need of extensive repairs to the foundation itself to raise and level the house with piles to prevent further sinking. 

Right around Christmas, after over a year of working on securing funding through a disaster loan and scheduling the work to be done, we were finally able to get started on the work. They began working on it while we were away visiting family, so when we returned it looked like a demolition zone! There was a four foot trench around the entire house, excavators and heavy equipment in the yard (and sometimes in our home). We could only get in and out on a wooden plank going from the driveway across the trench into the garage. The kids actually loved it - they wanted to put sharks and water into the “mote” (but the negative double-digit temperatures wouldn’t have made that practical for the poor sharks). It definitely made navigating day-to-day life more difficult. 

But instead of feeling annoyed or frustrated at these pretty major inconveniences, I found myself walking around with this light, almost giddy feeling inside. I knew this excavation and demolition was necessary to bring about the repairs necessary for our home to be safe. 

It was one day while I was feeling this sense of excitement about the apparent destruction of the outside of our home that it hit me:

What if I had this same perspective about God’s work in my life?

What if, instead of feeling discouraged or even angry at God when things seem to get worse after I pray about them, I were to trust that he has heard my prayers and is simply doing some necessary demolition before the process of rebuilding begins?

What if I recognized what seems like negative movement in my life as God’s hand at work - and acknowledged that any movement is good movement, because God is good? 

I think this would change my whole attitude. Instead of walking around anxious, worried or frustrated and angry I would be like I have been through the house repair process: excited and full of joy and expectation for what comes next.

I want that kind of life, that kind of absolute trust. In the case of my house, I know the end. I know what the finished product will look like and the huge improvements that will have been accomplished through the tearing down and building back up. But in our prayer lives in the situations I’m talking about we don’t have the benefit of the big picture - all we can see is where we are in space-time, and nothing beyond. 

All we have is faith.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. - Luke 17:5-6 (NIV)

But it only takes a mustard seed of faith. All it takes is pausing to realize your struggle and frustration with God, and whispering a prayer to him:

Increase my faith!

He is faithful and will hear you and begin to open your eyes to his work all around you, even as it would appear things are getting “worse.” I believe he will show himself to you in ways you never dreamed or imagined, and give you the strength to walk even through the “valley of the shadow of death” with joy and peace in your heart. 

I know it’s so much easier said than done. 

I know that the analogy of a shaken, sunken home might be nothing compared to some of the shaken places of your life, but I also know that God is bigger than anything life could possibly throw your way.

You are seen.

You are heard.

He is at work.

If you’re struggling with a situation you’ve prayed and prayed about, only to find it’s getting worse please let us know so we can come alongside you in prayer while you wait on the Lord. E-mail us at connect@prayingchristianwomen.com.