Unanswered prayers. That phrase brings many things to mind…one of my favorite Garth Brooks songs, a blessing in disguise, a trial or difficult time that did not go how I planned, a hope that did not come to fruition…the list could go on and on. What about you? What does the idea of unanswered prayers bring to your mind or heart?
If you are like me, there are times you can look back on when you prayed fervently for something that, in hindsight, you are SO GRATEFUL did not come to pass. It could be a job, a relationship, a move, etc. Whatever the case may be, looking back you can see that it would not have been good for you. It’s easy to be thankful to God for those times, knowing he helped us to dodge a bullet.
What do we do with the times, though, when even looking back now we don’t understand why things happened the way that they did? Maybe you were faced with a difficult decision, and you prayed for God’s guidance or clarity on how to handle the situation, and felt like you were met with silence. Maybe you had a difficult task ahead, and you prayed for God to give you someone to walk with you through it so that you didn’t have to walk alone. And you had to walk alone. Maybe you prayed for physical healing, emotional healing, the healing of a relationship, the list goes on. And it seems still that God left you high and dry.
There are many times in the Bible when God’s people felt the same. I think of Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Those words are beautiful and full of hope. What I didn’t realize until recently (thanks Penny for a great sermon on the topic) was that Jeremiah penned those words when the Jewish people were once again exiled. They were in Babylon, and everything they held dear had been taken or destroyed. God sent those words to them, and to us, as a reminder that even in our darkest hours, even when it feels like we are so far from Him, He has plans for us. Plans that include hope and a future.
During the times when we feel like God is silent, or when things go in a way we just do not understand, that is when our faith has to be strong enough to get us through. True faith is saying “God, even now I do not understand why this situation turned out this way. It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see what lesson I was to take from it, how it glorified you, or any good that could possibly come from it. But I trust in You, God. I believe that you have plans for me, plans for hope and a future. And I know that you can see so much more than I can even fathom. So even if I can’t see it, I trust in You that things going this way are a part of my hope and my future.”
Only the peace that passes all understanding can get us to and through that prayer and those times. My challenge to you this week is if you are going through one of these times, or if you can think of a time you did that you still struggle to understand, take it to God in prayer. Think about the words in Jeremiah, and how they were delivered during a time when God’s chosen people felt so incredibly far from His love and presence. And take comfort in knowing that to this day, He is our hope and our future.
