Recently an acquaintance with a bothersome back problem was lamenting to me that God had not healed her. She wondered why. Then she named off those in the Bible God had healed and a few others she knew first hand. After all, she was a Christian who prayed for others. Why had God not taken away her pain after she had consistently beseeched him to do so?
I empathized with her predicament, but gently pointed out that perhaps God did not exist to take away our pain. Healing is something God performs for his glory not our comfort. This was a totally foreign concept for her so she said, “I’ll have to think about that.”
Indeed God is capable of easing our pain, but he doesn’t always touch us with a magic wand where it hurts to make it better – like kissing a “boo-boo.” Although, he might sprinkle a little fairy dust of stamina, endurance, encouragement, perseverance or peace of mind to help us make it through the hard times.
Living in a “quick-fix” society, we would all prefer for God to instantly, magically fix our circumstances. But God is not always in the “quick-fix” game. Sometimes he offers pieces of solutions – bit by bit. Maybe he will plant a seed coming from something you read, a phrase, the lyrics to a song you’re listening to, something someone says off handedly and it starts you on the road to healing. You discover that perhaps God isn’t as concerned about your circumstances as your reaction to them or what you can learn from them.
People make an error in prayer thinking God is our big sugar daddy in the sky waiting to grant our every request. True he is omnipotent and has the power to give us everything we want, but he isn’t our personal Santa Claus anxious to fulfill everything on our wish list – even if we have been nice instead of naughty. That would not be good for us and God is interested only in our good. I often think of the following poem…
I asked for strength,
And God gave me difficulties to make me strong;
I asked for wisdom,
And God gave me problems to learn to solve;
I asked for prosperity,
And God gave me brain and brawn to work;
I asked for courage,
And God gave me dangers to overcome;
I asked for patience.
God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.
I asked for love,
And God gave me people to help;
I asked for favors,
And God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted.
I received everything I needed.
God always answers our prayers! It may not always be the answer we want, but it will be the one we need. We tend to blur our needs and our wants when we pray, we can be thankful that God knows the difference. That’s why we trust him for the right answer!
