But sometimes, what we want is not what we need or what is best or what is planned. God says, "My grace is sufficient for you." This is what has become termed here, unanswered prayers.
Garth Brooks "Unaswered Prayers"
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
Unanswered prayers – gets you back to thinking about the silversmith and how silver is purified, in the heat of the fire.
Third Day, "Consuming Fire"
and yes our God, He is a consuming fire
And the flames burn down deep in my soul
Yes our God He is a consuming fire
He reaches inside and He melts down this
cold heart of stone.
In this same chapter in “In the Grip of Grace,” Max asks, “What if God says no? What if the request is delayed or even denied? When god says no to you, how will you respond? If God says, “I’ve given you my grace, and that is enough, will you be content?”
What a concept!
I have to keep in mind Job, Paul, and John the beloved, to mention just a few. God allowed Job to be tested, he just couldn’t be killed.
From http://www.gotquestions.org: What should we learn from the life of Job?
“Job never lost his faith in God, even under the most heartbreaking circumstances that tested him to his core. It’s hard to imagine losing everything we own in one day—property, possessions, and even children. Most men would sink into depression and even become suicidal after such a nightmare; however, although Job must have felt all those emotions, he never wavered in his understanding that God was still in control.”
Job 1: 20-22 (New International Version, ©2010) http://www.biblegateway.com
Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
He didn’t blame, he didn’t criticize, he accepted and moved on. I can tell you right now, I’m not that strong! We have to keep in mind: "When the Devil harasses us, then we know ourselves to be in good shape!" Martin Luther
I didn’t realize just how tortured Paul was in his ministry, to have had the 39 lashes 5 times! One lash would probably do me in, I wouldn’t want any more and would probably do much to keep from getting another, but almost 200 of them!
From http://www.gotquestions.org: What should we learn from the life of Paul?
“First, we learn that God can save anyone. Those deathbed confessions can be hard for the living to swallow, but if Paul could go from killing Christians to being one and taking the beatings and punishments that he did, how can we not put a little faith in someone else waking up before it’s too late?
Second, we learn from the life of Paul that anyone can be a humble, powerful witness for Jesus Christ. Switching apostles here, Peter is believed to have been crucified.
From http://www.gotquestions.org: What should we learn from the life of Peter?
“Jesus said that Peter would die a martyr’s death (John 21:18-19)—a prophecy fulfilled, presumably, during Nero’s reign. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome
Finally, we learn that anyone can surrender completely to God.
The Apostle Paul spent his life proclaiming the risen Christ Jesus throughout the Roman world, often at great personal peril (2 Corinthians 11:24-27). It is assumed that Paul died a martyr’s death in the mid to late 60s A.D. in Rome
And for John, to be put in a vat of boiling oil, knowing what that could do to a body, and he had faith and crawled out of that vat, unharmed and no burns!
From http://www.gotquestions.org
“John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome island of Patmos Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to what is now modern-day Turkey
How are we any better?!? Job lost everything with no understanding as to why, just accepting that God knew all. Paul asked 3x for the thorn to be removed, and was told that “my grace is sufficient unto thee.” John outlived everyone, was sent to a prison island to do hard time, and in that, was granted the vision for “Revelation.”
“God sometimes permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves” (Joni Erickson Tada).
