When our nine-year-old granddaughter, Sarah, is with us, I always ask her on the way home from church what she learned in Children’s Church. Usually she can give me some sort of explanation. A few weeks ago, her answer was succinct. She said, “God always answers our prayers—sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes wait.”
I was so impressed that someone had taught our children such a wise lesson. I told Donn later, “I’m afraid we try too hard to convince children that God always answers prayer, which they assume means the answer is always yes! Then when the answer is no or wait, their faith is shaken and they become disillusioned with God.”
At bedtime a few days ago, the next devotional in the book we read to Sarah at bedtime was titled, When God Said No*. It was about a little girl who always ended her prayer every night by saying, And please God let me have a bicycle for my birthday.
But Dorothy’s parents were very poor. Her daddy wanted to buy her a bicycle but he didn’t have enough money. He worried that Dorothy might not trust God any more if she didn’t get a bicycle for her birthday.
After Dorothy opened her birthday presents, her daddy said, “Honey, I’m sorry you didn’t get a bicycle. But don’t blame God for not answering your prayers. I just didn’t have enough money.
Dorothy said, “God answered my prayers, Daddy. He said, ‘No; not yet.’ He’ll give you the money when He wants me to have a bike.
As I read on, we came to this sentence, God has three answers to prayers: Yes! No! Wait!
I stopped reading and looked at Sarah. “That’s exactly what Josh taught you in Children’s Church! That’s such an important lesson for children to be taught, so they realize that if they don’t get what they prayed for, it is still an answer from God—sometimes no and sometimes wait. ”
Then I added, “I want to tell you about a time that God answered my prayer ‘No,’ and I’m so glad He did! Every now and then, I say, “Thank you, God for not giving me what I asked for!”
Sarah’s eyes sparkled as she snuggled down beside me to listen. She loves God stories! “Before God asked us to go to Japan, we lived in Sandy Lake for a long time; and when God said it was time to come home, I wanted to go back to Sandy Lake. While we were still in Japan, I was looking for a house online to buy in Sandy Lake, but I couldn’t find one in our price range.
“So I started looking in other nearby towns, and I found a house in Greenville—a place I’d never wanted to live—for half the price I’d thought we’d have to pay! The owner was in a nursing home, and we found out her children had just dropped the price of the house $30,000, hoping it would sell quickly so they wouldn’t have to keep paying the taxes, utilities and insurance. They knew every cent of the money from the sale of the house would go to HUD anyway.”
“$30,000!” Sarah exclaimed. “That’s a lot of money!”
“Yes! So God provided a house for much less money than we expected, and as it turned out, almost everything He had for us to do was in Greenville! Your daddy and Connor lived in Greenville, and your daddy dropped Connor off (asleep) at our house at 5:30 a.m. every morning. For years, we got him ready and took him to school, then picked him up after school and helped him with his homework.
“Before we left Japan, God had been speaking to us about doing foster care again, and the organization we liked best was in Greenville!”
Sarah’s smiled and nodded perceptively, “Of course it was!”
“Besides that, most of our grandchildren went to school in Greenville, and the house God gave us was only a few blocks from the high school and a couple of miles from the elementary school. We went to their events without needing to make the trip from Sandy Lake on snowy roads in the winter. And if we lived in Sandy Lake, we’d be so much further from where you live in Hubbard!
“Also our house in Greenville is only a couple of miles from Walmart and Aldi’s. If we lived in Sandy Lake, we’d have to drive to Greenville for groceries since the grocery store there closed. Every now and then when we’re going to Walmart, I say, ‘Thank you, Jesus, for not giving me what I wanted!’
Sarah was still wide awake, hoping for another story. She said, “Grandma, were there any other times when God said ‘No?’ “
I wrinkled my forehead and said, “I can’t think of any right now, but I can think of a time when God did give me what I wanted!”
“When was that?”
“It was when all our kids said, ‘We’re all done, Mom. You’ll have to wait for the ‘greats!’ They knew how much I love children, and they were telling me they didn’t plan to have any more!”
Sarah’s eyes were sparkling again. She had heard this story before and knew what came next!
I smiled the special smile I always smile when I tell Sarah this story! “And then along came Sarah! God knew it was going to be a lot of years until Lainey—our first great grandchild– was born, so He gave you to Papa and me to enjoy for all those years. I feel sad when I think of us not having any children in the family for so long!”
Sarah glowed as I kissed her check and told her, “We love you so much!”
I’m thankful for the repeat of the lesson Sarah had in Children’s Church, but it’s not only children who need to remember that while God always answers our prayers, the answer isn’t always “YES!.” Sometimes it’s No; and Sometimes it’s Wait!
When God’s answer is no, or wait, we can cling to the mantra that has gotten me through some of the hardest NOs we’ve ever lived through: God knows what He’s doing and He doesn’t make mistakes. To quote a Bible verse that says the same thing: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” (Proverbs 3:5).
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us enough not to give us everything we want. Help us remember that you say, “My ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). Amen.
*From: More Little Visits With God.
