Praying and then Solving

How does that even work?
How does one pray for a solution to a problem, and then at the same time work towards solving that same problem? You don't believe your prayer will be answered?

At the tail end of last year (which really translates to last week) I was driving behind this car with a bumper sticker that had me in stitches.

I should probably add, ...and then have an accident

Chances are, you are running late for an appointment (hopefully, through no fault of yours), you pray asking God to get you there on time, and then you step on it, and drive beyond the highest speed limit in the whole country. How won't you leave your guardian angel behind? And if you end up in an accident, who caused it?

Time and time again we face one challenge or another, we pray about it committing whatever challenge we are facing into the hands of the Lord, and then we still spend countless hours worrying about  this very same situation. Why then commit the situation into God's hands if we have a better solution we intend to arrive at by worrying about it?

Let's not forget Abraham and Sarah. They had a problem, no children and they were getting old. They commit the problem to God's hands, and they must have run out of patience waiting for the answer. Why? Because they took matters into their own hands and chose to solve the problem on their own, even after God had promised to them what seemed impossible. End result? Their solution seemed to work out at first, but it turned out not to be such a hot plan in the end. And then, God delivers. He solves the problem, but they had already created another problem with their solution.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?
When we commit a situation to the Lord, may we truly commit it to Him and refuse to worry about it.
Happy New Year!