Father Knows Best

 

Linsey, my five-year old, was extremely quiet one night.  "Mama," she asked thoughtfully, "how come when I pray, God doesn't give me everything I ask for?" 

"Well, does Mommy always give you everything you ask me for?"  I asked, crossing my fingers and hoping for a right answer.

She thought for a minute.  "Umm…no," she finally admitted.

"And why don't I - am I trying to be mean?"  Again, I was mentally preparing myself for sabotage.    

"Well, sometimes you think it's a bad idea, or I ask for stuff you don't want me to have.  You know better." 

Phew!  What an answer!  I went on, "Well, God is the same way.  Sometimes we ask for things He doesn't want us to have, or He knows something we don't know, and so He won’t give us what we asked for.  But sometimes God waits to answer, because He wants us to learn to have a good attitude when we don’t get what we want right away."

I've thought of that conversation a lot over the past few days, and it has convicted me.  It's so easy to tell someone else that what they desire may not be God’s will for them, or to keep praying and God will honor their persistence...in His perfect timing, of course.  I know all the right answers.  But when it's me asking?  I want an answer NOW.  And when I don’t get my way, having a good attitude is often the furthest thing from my mind.

I think that’s why God waits to answer our prayers sometimes– He wants to test our response when things don’t go our way.  God is much more interested in our spiritual growth than He is in our comfort.  After all, every parent knows that giving a child everything he demands will ultimately hurt that child.  Learning to deal with disappointment is an important part of life.

It's easy to serve God when our health is good, our families are happy, and the cash is flowing.  But being a mature Christian means staying faithful to God even when everything isn't going our way.  When we lose a job…or a loved one.  When we pray for a week, or maybe a year...and nothing seems to change.  James 1:3 tells us that “the trying of [our] faith worketh patience,”  and verse 4 says this patience brings spiritual maturity.  It’s through those difficult times that our spiritual lives are strengthened, and we become a little more like the person God created us to be. 

So the challenge is this:  The next time God doesn’t give you what you pray for, will it rob you of your joy and cause you to doubt His love?  Or, as hard as it may be, will you respond with childlike faith and say, “That’s okay, God, because You know better!"