When God Doesn’t Answer

I’ve been thinking a lot today about where I am in life and where I’m not. I’ve been thinking a lot about the prayers and pleads that I’ve uttered in the past however-many months. I know that God is a healer. And yet though I have prayed for 16 long months now to be healed, still I haven’t been.

Earlier this week, I became very annoyed with myself and quite frankly, with God. I’m sure that no one else has ever felt annoyed with God before, but I will be honest and admit that I was thoroughly confused. I prayed, well, half yelled really, to God. I asked Him if He was a healer, then why oh why haven’t I been healed? If He is a prayer answering God, then why have my prayers gone unanswered? Maybe I had Him pegged all wrong, but something in me tells me that He is all power and all might…

And today, I think He answered me. After my little visit to the hospital Thursday, I am back to taking pain medication. I absolutely HATE taking pain medication because I hate how I feel. So, much to my husbands’ dismay, I will pop a pill and then stay up doing SOMETHING for as long as I can stand. Cleaning the kitchen, laundry, sweeping the floor, anything to keep from that drug from washing over me and making me a zombie. My mom is probably going to be as upset as my husband about that, but I can’t just lie around my whole life and do nothing.

So anyway, back to Him answering me. I cleaned Martin’s truck out today (that was the point of the little explanation above - ha) and started thinking about Bible Hero’s. First I thought about Joseph, probably because my Pastor has mentioned him a lot recently in church (see how wonderful it is to have a Shepard in tune with God). Joseph had it kind of rough. Genesis 37:5 tells us that his brothers hated him. That would be hard! I love my brothers and can’t imagine them hating me. I think that I would be devastated. But it didn’t stop there for Joseph. Genesis 37 goes on to tell us that his brothers stripped a cloak given to him by his father and then dumped him in a pit and sold him off to be a slave!

Now I’m about to use my imagination here, but I do know that Joseph had a relationship with God. I just can’t imagine him being cool with his brothers hating him, dumping him in a pit, and then selling him off to be a slave. Surely he prayed for God to soften the hearts of his brothers… I would imagine that he longed to have a good relationship with them and pleaded with God to make that possible. And yet, still they hated him, dumped him in a pit, and sold him. Now we know that it didn’t stop there for Joseph. Genesis 39 tells of how Joseph was bought by an Egyptian and made ruler of his house. Yet still he was a slave. Still his prayers seemed to go unanswered… If things weren’t bad enough, the Egyptian’s wife had the hots for Joseph and when he wouldn’t give in to her advances, she lied and had him thrown in prison. So here Joseph was hated by his brothers, stripped of his prized possession, thrown in a pit, sold as a slave, lied against, and thrown in prison. As Joseph sat behind those steel bars, I can only imagine what must’ve gone through his mind…

So – did God answer his cries? Did He hear Joseph’s sobs? I’ll leave that for you to answer…

Then I started thinking about Job. Job had it so rough, he even had a whole book written about him! First off, he lost his children and his property (or possessions). If that wasn’t enough, Job 2:7 tells us that Satan attacked his health. So then his wife talks crazy and three of his best friends talk crazy. Ol’ Job… Surely he was thinking, “God, are you still there?” In fact Job 17:1-3 reveals that Job prayed for relief. But chapters go by and Job still has it rough… Was God ignoring his prayers of relief??? Job 42:12 (NKJV) “Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…”

As you can probably imagine, I was already feeling pretty encouraged by just being
reminded of these two guys, but then God laid the whammy on me. And I thought about
Jesus…

Matthew 26:38-39 “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face,
and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless
not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

So – did God just ignore the exceedingly sorrowful soul of our Lord?? It would have
made a great story if the soldiers came to arrest Jesus and suddenly angels baring
swords swooped in and slaughtered them all saving our Lord from his unjust arrest and
crucifixion… It would have made a great action packed story, BUT where would we be??? The blood that Jesus shed wasn’t fun. His flesh was not excited about the pain and the death it
would endure, and yet that blood was freely given to pay for our sins…

God doesn’t answer us when we think He should or how we think He should, but that
doesn’t mean that He doesn’t hear our cries and it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t answer.
What would have happened if God had given Joseph the answer that he wanted back in
Genesis 37:5. Just when he might have prayed for a better relationship with his
brothers… Before he was stripped, thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, falsely imprisoned,
etc.

Or what about Job? What if God gave Job the relief that he was looking for in the
first chapter of Job when he lost his children and possessions? Before his wife got all
crazy… Before his friends turned on him… Before his health was attacked…

And then, what about Jesus’ prayer? What if the cup passed from Him??? Where, oh where, would we be?

So I’m thinking that God reminded me of the “unanswered prayers” of these three to tell
me that He is a prayer answering God. He does hear my prayers, cries, pleas, moans, etc.
But just because He doesn’t answer me when I think He should and how I want Him too
doesn’t mean that He’s not answering…

And as I’ve been writing this all kinds of people have come to my mind… David, Sarah and Abraham, Paul, etc. He heard every one of them, just like He hears me and you and anyone that calls to Him… And we can all rest assured that He will answer because He ­is a prayer answering God.