| Secrets of a Beautiful Life |
Chapter 14 |
Page 3 |
We put our cares into God’s hands in prayer, and they do not seem to become less. We think there has been no answer to our prayers. But all the while an unseen hand has been quietly shaping, adjusting, and disentangling the complex affairs in our life that made us anxious. We are not conscious of it, but our prayers have been receiving continual answer in peace and blessing.
We find ourselves in the midst of circumstances which appear adverse to our happiness and good. We seem about to be crushed by sorrows, by disappointments, by trials, or by antagonisms. We pray to be saved from these distressful conditions. No answer seems to come. The shadow deepens; the blow falls. We sit in the darkness and say that God did not answer our prayers. We are unaware of the blessing that really came to us in the time of our pain. The cup was not taken away, but we were secretly strengthened, so that we were able to drink it.
We are very ignorant. We know not how to pray as we ought. The thing we ask for is not just what we need, although we think it is. The thing we really need comes in place of what we thought we needed. The prayer seems to be unanswered, while in fact it is answered in a far better way than if what we sought had come instead. We think it is more of God’s gifts we need; these do not come, but God Himself comes into our life in new fullness, imparting to us more of His love and grace. The Giver is better than His best gifts.
Thus there is a large field of praying in which answers come, but come unaware, unrecognized. We have been blessed, although we know it not. We did not know the blessing when it was given to us. We did not understand that the good things we were receiving so plentifully were answers to our prayers. We thought God was not heeding our requests, when really He was giving us abundant answer every day.
Page 3