Answers n. a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve a problem.
v. to be sufficient or adequate, either in quality or quantity; to fulfill a want or need.

Monday

From the very moment you’re born there is a need for someone to answer you. I can remember my children as babies - they would ‘communicate’ with me and I would ‘answer’ them. Their form of communication was to cry and my answer was to feed, burp, cuddle, change their nappy or the other dozen things you try in answer to their wailing! The key to my ‘answer’ was a balance between understanding why they were crying and knowing what was best for them at the time. Sometimes their cry was met with a gentle whisper, but they were left where they were, in bed, because what they really needed was sleep.
What steps do you take in answering someone?
When you need an answer, what satisfies you? It may not always be a ‘Yes’, sometimes it’s body language or other forms of love extended through an answer (despite what the answer actually is).
How has God answered you lately?
Spend time journaling the different ways God can answer you. Then put a mark next to the ways He has answered you.
Are you open to God answering you in new ways? Let’s see if this devo brings a broader perspective to your dialogue with God and others.

Tuesday

No other nation has laws that are as fair as the ones the Lord my God told me to give you. If you faithfully obey them when you enter the land, you will show other nations how wise you are. In fact, everyone that hears about your laws will say, ” That great nation certainly is wise!” And what makes us greater than other nations? We have a God who is close to us and answers our prayers. Deuteronomy 4:5-8 (CEV)

This passage are the words of Moses to the people of Israel. The Israelites were a nation God wanted to bless, set apart and favour. What was the requirement for that privilege? Nothing. God wanted intimacy with them and a depth of relationship - like a Father. The basis of Israel’s blessings came out of a place of love and freedom, not a manipulative or conditional place. As a Father God doesn’t have to legitimise His love for us to anyone. He chooses to love us and favour us. . . just because. You and I are offered that same intimacy and God is still longing to be that same Father. In fact, His longing went deeper - He sent His Son to make sure nothing could separate Him from His children again. Then Jesus sent His Spirit to be with the children of God until He could return and take them with Him for good. WOW! Now we can claim ‘we have a God who is close to us and answers our prayers.’ But what does that look like for you, personally? Are you close to God? Does He answer your prayers? In 2 Samuel 28:15 it says
Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by calling me up?” “Because I’m in deep trouble,” said Saul. “The Philistines are making war against me and God has deserted me—he doesn’t answer me any more, either by prophet or by dream. And so I’m calling on you to tell me what to do.” Saul was a man anointed by God to lead His people. He achieved many wonderful things through the hand of the Lord upon him, so what has happened? Saul has become a man out of relationship with God, and through that, his prayers are met with silence. Saul becomes so distressed with the lack of communion and intimacy he is so used to having with the Lord, that he calls on Samuel to repair it, or be a mediator. But, that is not the way God works. If He wants to speak to His children, He will. Saul was unable to manipulate Samuel, and for that matter, God, into any kind of encounter. God doesn’t need you to fulfil any ‘check the boxes’ list in order to answer you. His answers come out of a longing for communion with you. Now, you may be thinking right now about all the ‘unanswered’ prayers you have prayed over however many years. . . and as I sit here typing, I confess, I am thinking of mine too! But, the question circling around my heart is this: How many of those prayers were actually unanswered? For me, that question may take some more time to answer, needing time for meditation with the Holy Spirit. Truthfully, I can’t think of any prayer that hasn’t been answered within the bounds of a true and intimate relationship with God as my Father, Jesus as my Saviour and the Holy Spirit as my Guide. So, back to the original focus of this devo - God answers prayers to those who are close to Him. It may not be the answer you’re after, and let’s face it, we can sometimes come knowing what God is going to say. But it’s worth the shot! That’s where I really see the Father/daughter relationship between God and I. Can you feel that too? It’s a safe place to come, the knee of Abba Father, and talk to Him about all those unchartered waters, unclimbed mountains, untamed jungles and unexplored deserts. Some of them He will let’s us go to, while others are in our future, when we’re ready, and still others are not going to be experienced by us. Whatever His answer, you can rest in the knowledge that He loves you, He hears you and He does answer you. So stay close to him and listen. . . 

Wednesday

Naaman was general of the army under the king of Aram. He was important to his master, who held him in the highest esteem because it was by him that God had given victory to Aram: a truly great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease. It so happened that Aram, on one of its raiding expeditions against Israel, captured a young girl who became a maid to Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, “Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease.”Naaman went straight to his master and reported what the girl from Israel had said. . . So Naaman with his horses and chariots arrived in style and stopped at Elisha’s door. Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be as good as new.”. . .So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new. 2 Kings 5:1-14 (MSG)

Yesterday we looked at the assurance of a God who loves you and longs to answer you from a deep and intimate relationship. Today we read about a young girl, unnamed, but potent in the life of a man who could of snapped his fingers and had anything he wanted. Naaman was an army general. I confess I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to national security , but an army general seems fairly important. Yet, here’s a man that couldn’t order, pay or scare out an answer to his most pressing and personal need. Naaman was a man of privilege and means. He had at his disposal riches and family connections. He was favoured by his king as a man honoured, set above others to serve his king and to be served by everyone else. His need could perhaps be settled into one sentence: He was a leper and needed healing. In all his glory and valour and prestige, Naaman was a man no clear skinned slave would trade places with, so debilitating was this disease. But Naaman was also a man blessed by God. A God who facilitates situations and people into the lives of others in order to bring about freedom and show His glory. Naaman had a slave in his home who was just one such assignment. God placed her there and was intentional in using her to bring about Naaman’s freedom. I love the fact that someone young. . .actually, a young girl. . .actually, a young servant girl. . .actually, a young Israelite servant girl was able to give the answer he was seeking! How many lotions and potions do you think Naaman tried? How many people were assigned the specific role of curing him? How many were beheaded because of failure? This second in charge general was a valuable commodity and the king was keen to see him well, and back in his service (not to mention his company)! So what possessed this young Israelite servant girl? Her value in discussing the physical ailment of her mistress’ husband would have been less than nil! So what was it that caused an uprising in her spirit to bring about this kind of boldness? She had 1. truth  2. passion  3. courage  4. faith. Here was a young girl stolen from her home and carried off to a foreign land. Who knows what she was subjected to? The differences in culture as well as morals and values would have affected everything she knew as ‘life’. She had every right to be hurt, fearful and bitter, letting that dictate everything she thought, said and did. In sharing what she knew as truth, she became a tool in the hand of God to move in Naaman’s life, and undoubtedly, many others around him. What truth did she have? Her God is real. It wasn’t a maybe, it was a definitely. She knew that Elisha was a prophet anointed by God. Anything Elisha did was through the power of a Living God moving in him. She had passion to see Naaman’s circumstance change. This passion stems straight from the heart of God. She wanted what God wanted and spoke boldly to bring that about. Her passion took her from a place of knowledge into a place of action. Passion moves you from passive to active, despite the benefits for you or the pain different situations bring with them. Did she feel like freeing her master from his prison? I would think there may have been a time where she didn’t want anything good for him (especially when she knew she would never see her family again). It’s encouraging to see her push through negative feelings and still be able to bless someone who has hurt her. I’m challenged! She was courageous. Passion causes action, and that takes courage. She had probably seen the results of other ‘practitioners’ failing in their attempt to heal Naaman. It was a risk in the human, but no risk at all in the spiritual. God heals. She knew it and shared it with faith. Faith can give courage. It takes you into a place of believing for something in line with the perfect will of God, before you actually see it. This girl saw her master healed long before he was. Faith is a powerful tool in bringing about God’s will through frail humans. Perhaps she was the only person to believe in his healing in that household right up to the point of the seventh and final ‘dip’! So, here is a girl of incredible substance. I see her as a model to strive towards - to be a woman who answers others in need with truth, passion, courage and faith.

Thursday

The importance of the answer someone gives us is based around the importance of the relationship. Wouldn’t you agree? I can’t count the number of times my children have come home crying from the answer someone has given them that has caused hurt. You’ve been there. Picture this: 5th grade; group of girls; one long skipping rope; and you. The question on your lips as you watch them skip and laugh together is this, “Can I join in?” but the answer you get is, “No!” We have all felt the pain of an answer that hurt us, and it’s normally the answer ‘no’. Why is that? And why do we let people have the power to make us happy or sad depending on the answer they give us? I heard the answer ‘no’ alot in the playground amongst the other little girls, but instead of that ruining my worth, I decided their answer was not going to influence how I felt about myself. My solution. . .play with someone else. I became an expert in cars, motorbikes, football, cricket and any other ‘guy’ thing. You see, I found people that didn’t say ‘no’ to me. The boys were a lot less fussed about keeping people in or out. I think they were shocked at first, unable to answer me. I took that as a ‘yes’ and it continued on from there! The answer I needed in this situation was found in me adapting myself to change. There is a very easy way to sift through this never ending sea of ’answers’. Coming back to my children and the pain they feel over answers from others - I get each child to tell me about the relationship they have with this particular person. Sometimes it’s a friend - and that’s a relationship with investment already established. Other times it can be a random kid walking past them at the bus stop, never to be seen again - that’s not a relationship based on any kind of solid foundation.  So once I’ve worked out ‘who’ has answered them, then I help them decide just how much ‘weight’ they should be giving this ‘answer’. All of a sudden, the random kid becomes a ‘non event’, and the friend becomes a focus to work on and invest into. As a woman who ‘answers’, you need to work out  some boundaries in relationships with other people. It isn’t always your role to sweep in as the ‘knightess’ in shining armour and rescue everyone from the tough answers of life. In their book Boundaries, Dr Cloud and Dr Townsend say that boundaries define who you are, they show you where you end and where someone else begins. Boundaries give you freedom to know where and when you are to act. For intimate relationships the boundaries are closer and for others they may be further out. Boundaries are essential in all areas of personal and spiritual growth, but they are very important when you are called to give answers to others who can’t seem to find them on their own.
Without boundaries you are open to hurt and abuse - this is not the answer for you or the other person. The church as a body of Christ should be talking the loudest and the most convincingly when it comes to the questions of life. That doesn’t mean all our answers are going to be warm and fuzzy! One answer that comes to mind could be given to the question, “What can sin possible do to hurt me when I die?” And the answer is, “The wages of sin is death. Spiritual death for eternity”. That is an answer with truth. The rest of the answer is where passion, courage and faith come in. Jesus can rescue you from that sin and death. It doesn’t matter what question is asked in this world and by whom it is asked - Jesus will always be the answer. My mind is often overwhelmed at the awesomeness of God (Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit). There is too much for me to ever grasp there, which tells me that there will always be an answer to every question or problem in God. He does not get surprised by you, no matter what the question. He is willing to open heaven and pour it out on you. This is the answer for me. And this is the answer for you. The best thing you can do when you have an answer this good is to share it with someone else. Be an answer to someone as you sprinkle a little of God over others. It may be just what they need today!

Friday

When you think about being an answer, does your mind begin to list all the reasons why you couldn’t possibly be suitable? Mine does. I have learned over time to discern what is from God, what is from the insecurities in me and what is a lie from satan. Once you master this, the confusion about your direction will fade away. Of course then it becomes a battle of the will versus the spirit (a whole different devo right there!).
So, you have the resources to be an answer - who, when, how. . .?
All these questions are ‘incidentals’ because you are going to be led by the One who knows every answer - the Holy Spirit. Use today to get out your journal and give the Holy Spirit authority to speak in to you about who, when and how you are going to be the answer in the lives of others.
Find a quiet spot and close your eyes. Give your mind to God and let the human things (children, husband, work, dinner, cleaning) all fade away. You may be picturing someone you know needs an answer from God. Bring them before the Lord and let Him show you what He wants you to do there.
Remember your boundaries. . .and give God your hands and feet today to be an incredible conduit of His love and grace.