But he said to me, "My
grace is sufficient for you, - 2
Corinthians 12:9a
In the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel,
David’s newborn son was dying and he went before the Lord and
fasted in hopes that God would heal the child. Seven days later he
received word that his child had died. This time God said no. Harold
Peterson was about to learn that God doesn’t always say yes
Randy was the first to find Harold as
he sat in the front pew of the church crying. “Have you seen my Dad
yet?” Harold asked when he saw Randy walk in, “He said he would
come as soon as he got news from the vet.” “About Muffy?” Randy
asked. “Yeah” Harold replied, “The vet will make him better
and God won’t let him die, will he?”
“Well, sometimes....” Randy
started to tell Harold but Harold interrupted “I can’t wait till
Muffy is better and we can go running around again. I keep praying
and praying and praying so I know he’ll get better.” As Randy
tried to finish what he had started to say, Harold’s dad Bill
showed up.
“Dad!” Harold said looking around
“Where’s Muffy?” “I couldn’t bring him” came a sad reply
from his dad. “Oh,” Harold said, “he has to stay there to get
better. That’s okay.” “If only that was so.” Harold’s dad
said, “Muffy didn’t make it.” “What do you mean?” Harold
said with a puzzled look on his face, “What didn’t Muffy make?”
“Harold.” Bill said with a lump in
his throat, “Muffy died.” “No he didn’t,” Harold quickly
replied, “ He’s just sleeping. I know because I prayed and God
is going to make him better. When can I go and see him? I have
really missed him a lot.”
“You can’t go see him,” Bill
told Harold “Muffy didn’t make it, The vet couldn’t save him.
He died” “.NO! NO! NO! YOU’RE LYING!” Harold shouted back
at his dad, “I’ll prove it to you. He’s still alive. He has to
be alive, Randy tell him Muffy is alive.” “I can’t” came
Randy’s reply “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Harold screamed and ran off. It
was going to be a long night at the Peterson household.
2 Corinthians 12:9a But he said to
me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." (ESV) I wish I could say everything
has a happy ending but as we all know not everything does.
Have you ever prayed for something
and received an answer you didn't want? Even great men in the Bible
didn't always have things turn out for them the way they wanted.
Let's look briefly at three of them.
The first of our men is David, a man
who would be called “A man after God's own heart.” Of all the
men in in the Bible, surely God answer David prayers with a yes, but
wait, David was still human.
In 2 Samuel 11 & 12 we read of on
not so wonderful moment in David's life. While walking around on the
roof of his palace he saw nude Bathsheba taking a bath and though she
belonged to another, David called for her, had sex with her and got
her pregnant. In attempt to cover up his ill gotten deed, he had
Bathsheba's husband killed. God saw it all and as a punishment David
was told that the child was going to die.
For the next seven days David fasted
and prayed to God in hopes that he might change God's mind and that
he would let the child live but it was to no avail, the Child died.
God had said no to David's prayer.
The next man is the Apostle Paul.
Surely God would listen to the man who wrote much of the New
Testament and preached the Gospel to the Gentiles convincing many to
be come Christians. Yet, like David, Paul was still human.
Unlike David, Paul did not commit
sexual immorality but he needed to be held at bay. Because of his
closeness to God, He had been given special revelations and with such
special privileges comes the temptation to become proud. God sent
Paul a “Thorn in the Flesh” to keep him at bay. Paul didn't like
it and he prayed three times to God to have it taken away. (2
Corinthians 12:7) God said no! Paul had to live with his thorn.
There is no way God would say no to
our third person or at least you would think He wouldn't say no,
after all we're talking about God's Son Jesus. On top of being God's
Son, he was perfect in every way but we are still human, and we have
fallen short of God's glory and need redemption.
To redeem us, God sent Jesus into the
world to die on the cross. The night before he was to be killed he
prayed asking God for another way but in the end, God turned His back
on Jesus and left Him to die on the cross. (Luke 22 & 23)
God doesn't always answers us the way
we would like. Sometimes it's because we don't deserve an answer but
other times it's because He has something better in store for us for
His ways are so much better than ours. Think of these two verses
- Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. .(ESV)
- Psalm 18:30 The ways of God are without fault. The LORD’S words are pure. He is a shield to those who trust him. (NCV)
The next time you pray and God doesn't
answer you the way you think He should remember, He knows what He's
doing and we should dwell on the positive out comes we can not yet
see rather than the negative outcomes we feel.
Here's Something To Ponder
- When God gives you the wrong answer do you turn on Him?
- Have you found the positive outcome from one or more of God's answers?
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