Are We Missing Something?

Sometimes it can be easy to miss what God is trying to tell us. We may say a prayer because we are hungry, but do we really expect that God would send a picnic basket filled with food? Or would He provide the opportunity to feed ourselves? I heard a story about a man who was starving who prayed to God, ‘Lord save me for I am hungry’. The man waited for an answer from the Lord. Some days later, the man came across a bag. He searched hoping to find food but was disappointed and discarded it, as it only held a small spade, hook and twine. He prayed again to the Lord, ‘Lord why have you forsaken me, I am starving and near death, I looked to you for help and nothing came.’

How often do we pray and not understand the answer? If the man had thought about it he would have seen that God had answered his prayers but not necessarily in the way he expected. Instead of sending an ‘instant fix’ to his problem the Lord sent a long term solution. With the twine and hook, the man could have fashioned a fishing line, and with the small spade he could have dug for grubs or worms for bait. The man then would have had the means to feed himself for more than just one meal.

God’s answer isn’t always a quick fix and may not be the solution we expect. We have to trust and look for the answers he sends. Granted, sometimes the answer is simple and easily spotted, but other times we need to really look and understand what He is actually saying. If we are poor and a door of opportunity opens to earn a living should we wait on the fortune to drop on our doorstep or should we walk through the open door and take that job? If we are hungry and we fail to recognise the opportunity to feed ourselves is that His fault or ours? If we pray for understanding but then we don’t take up the invite to study; whose fault is that?

I know at times I have found myself getting impatient and prayed until I am blue when the answers are right before me. Maybe I just didn’t want to accept the answer He was giving or was so impatient I just couldn’t see what He was trying to tell me. Are we all so busy in our lives, rushing around making endless decisions, focussing on work, family and friends, commitments to Church or other organisations, that our lives are taken over and we don’t always take the time to stop, be still and listen to the Lord’s answers and His vision for our lives?

Is God trying to reach you? Have you left your ‘answering machine’ on because you are too busy? Maybe it’s time for us all to make time and listen; to open our eyes and see the opportunities He has placed before us, to have faith and a deeper understanding of God’s plan for us and embrace His love and decisions for our lives.

Tina White