U: Unanswered Prayers #AtoZChallenge
Years ago, I prayed harder than I’ve ever prayed before. My relationship was falling apart at the seams, and there didn’t seem to be anything I could do to repair it. So I prayed. A friend was having the same problem, so we prayed together. We studied Scripture. We discussed God’s purpose for our marriages. We prayed some more.
Neither of our relationships was mended.
I still prayed for a miracle. Perhaps there would be a post-divorce reconciliation. Perhaps hearts would be softened and all would go back to the way it was before. Only this time, the relationship would be stronger and fuller. I prayed. I prayed with fervor. I told my friends that I just knew things were going to work out.
They didn’t.
About one full year after the official end, I met Math Man. We’d been connected online, and we decided to have a date. (For the fun of knowing, tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of that face-to-face meeting.) One of the interesting facts about this first “blind” date is that both of us were at the point in our online dating experience where we were both saying, “If this doesn’t work out, I’m done with online dating.”
Wouldn’t you know, we were both officially done with online dating after that lunch. But not because it was a horrible date. Nope. It was an amazing date that neither of us wanted to end but had to because we both had prior plans for the evening.
All those prayers I sent up years before with the assumption that I knew what I needed and what would make me happy. God smiled down at me, reminded me that He knew better what I needed, and then He gave me Math Man when my mind and heart were ready.
As Garth Brooks says, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”
Here, watch the video for a little 90s reminiscing.
I think of this song often myself! My plans are always pretty lame when compared to His!
Funny how we humans seem to think we know all the things. 🙂