I have been in prayer for certain areas in my live for a few years. I have waited patiently for God’s answer and I have been prepared for Him to say “no.” What I realized most recently, was that I was not prepared for the “yes,” or the way the “yes” might come.
There is an old story/parable about a man praying for assistance from God and then not being ready or able to see the assistance when it arrives (The Parable of the Flood).
A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbor drove off in his pick-up truck.
The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.
The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.
When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”
How often do we keep praying and waiting patiently and our answer/deliverance has been granted, but because it did not come the way we envisioned, we don’t see it – and keep on praying? I know that I am guilty! It is like asking for help, and then giving specific instruction on how you want the help to come. This does not make sense in this world, how much sillier it is to ask for help and then believe you know better than the almighty God, on how and in what ways your help should come.
God wants us to be in relationship with Him, and to ask Him for what we need and want. Christians understand that sometimes the answer will be no, or not right now, but we also know that the answer may be yes. What we may not completely understand is that the yes may not come in the form we anticipate. God tell us in Matthew 7:7 to “ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
I was recently unsure of taking a step, but in speaking to others, they reminded me of what I had been praying about for a few years, and how the opportunity in front of me, answered those prayers. I did not see it for myself, but once I was reminded of my prayers, I saw God’s hand completely in the opportunity.
Don’t miss the answer to your prayers, because it did not come the way you expected. God knows best!
Glory To God For All That He Has Done
Blessings – Janice
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