What do you do when things do not go your way?
I am sure that you have experienced the disappointment when something that you really wanted did not happen – whether it’s a sickness that will not heal, a purchase that did not go through, a job offer that went to someone else, or something else that did not go your way.
The Lord tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
This is sometimes very tough to do. Trust, and give it over to God, you say? How do you do this?
Start by surrendering everything over to the Lord with Prayer.
We see in 1 John 5:15 that He hears us. “And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.”
I go to the Lord in prayer and talk it out. Those private conversations clear my mind and heal my heart.
But what happens when those prayers do not seem to be answered? God doesn’t always work the way we want Him to. Just because we don’t see Him immediately answer our prayers in the way we expect doesn’t mean He isn’t working in our lives.
This is where trust really needs to come in.
We need to see the results to know that prayers are being answered, but we do not always see the big picture of what is coming.
We want that cancer defeated, we want that new house, and we want whatever we want. But God knows better. If that cancer is healed, maybe you miss the opportunity to share the Good News with a patient waiting in the waiting room. Maybe there is another house with exactly what you need, and you are helping a family that is moving out answer their prayers. He may even surprise you with something you didn’t even know could happen.
Whatever you are praying for, God hears you, and plans are in motion to answer those prayers.
So are things really going your way, or God’s way?