Here in Kentucky, we're in the midst of a brutal stretch of snow, ice, and brutal cold. When this began on Saturday, my wife and I had the sense to turn on our faucet's to prevent our pipes from freezing. The next day, it dawned on me that it wasn't supposed to get that cold that night and it was a little silly to leave them dripping. Fast forward to Monday night, when we were projected to have temperatures in single digits and wind chills making it feel well below zero. We went to bed that night and never gave those pipes a second that. Naturally, they froze, and we spent most of Tuesday without water at our house. I crawled underneath the house and could see ice on the water line so I weathered the tight quarters with a hair dryer to heat the pipes, we ran tape and fixed insulation around our pipes. Despite our best efforts, we still didn't have water.
After everyone went to bed, I sat watching "Star Trek The Next Generation" by myself. I just kept feeling the urge to pray for those stupid pipes and our water. First, I remembered the story of Moses both in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20. The Israelites were in the wilderness and needed water. Moses brought this to the Lord and in Exodus, He commanded Moses to strike the rock and water would come gushing out. In Numbers, He told Moses to speak to the rock and water would come out, but Moses in his anger, struck the rock and water still came out, but his disobedience had consequences and he wouldn't be able to enter into the Promised Land. Second, I remembered the words of Philippians 4 that says that all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. I began thanking God for all the prayers He had answered recently and all the ways He had blessed us during this storm: We never lost electric, we had enough food, and we were completely safe. This was literally the first hiccup. Third, I remembered Philippians 4:19 (NKJV): "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." I was reminded that God had and has always supplied our needs and I pleaded with the Lord to not make us wait until next week with no water because of my own stupidity. Lastly, I remembered how much the Lord loves us. He doesn't want us to suffer or struggle, but I was also mindful of the consequences Moses faced with his own disobedience that I mentioned before. I also remembered how Jesus operated outside of what we see as evidenced by Him changing water into wine: A process that could take years, He did instantaneously. The weather forecast showed that it wouldn't warm up to thaw our ground or pipes for days and I trusted that the Lord could warm the ground around our pipes, remove whatever was preventing us getting water, and could supply us with what we needed to be comfortable. I also realized that people needed to understand that it was not me that made this happen, but it was God.
My wife had asked me to make sure the faucets were off in the kitchen and kids' bathroom before I came to bed. I decided I would leave ours on in the bathroom. I turned the others off and came to our room and decided to turn ours off and on. As I did, I heard a gurgling as if water was trying to press through and then water came out of the faucet! The temperature had only gotten colder and we had done nothing else to try and to restore water to our house. The Lord had answered that prayer and supplied for our needs. Immediately, I started thanking the Lord for supplying this need for us! We could now shower and wash our hands (as you can tell, I was immediately thankful for that having been underneath the house and feeling very nasty from the dirt I was crawling in).
We often limit what we think God can do and what we trust Him with to our own understanding. I have no idea where my lines were malfunctioning, but He solved it. I had no idea when or how we would have water, but I could trust that God was able to do just what He did because of what Scripture had taught us. What about you? Is there something you're praying about and you just don't understand how God is going to be able to do it? Is there something you need to trust Him with, but you just don't think He wants to hear about it? Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Notice it says, "Everything." Not somethings, not the things we're comfortable with, but all things. Bring it to the Lord and let Him accomplish the impossible.