Recently I read something that gets at this in a specific way. A Presbyterian pastor in North Carolina tells about a woman who came to see him on her lunch break. Nicely dressed, dignified, late thirties woman. Her face revealed a mixture of indignation and great sadness. There was a woman in her Sunday church School class, a teacher, who was always talking about how wonderful it was to walk and talk with Jesus. She would tell how everything she asked Jesus for she received. She prayed that her blueberry muffins would be perfect and they always were. Jesus, she would say, is wonderful to have around. She told of rushing somewhere to do the Lord’s work and she would say: “Lord you know that I am coming down here to do your work and I am running late so I need a parking space and always someone would be pulling out of the space at exactly the right time.” Jesus was so good to have around, she would say!
When God Doesn't Answer
Illustration
by Robert W. Bohl
by Robert W. Bohl
Then the minister said that the woman in front of him did not know whether to be angry at God or crushed because God never answered her prayers. She admitted she had never pestered God for tasty muffins or parking spaces, but for ten years she had been praying for just one thing. She liked being married but she wanted to have a baby but her prayers were never answered. Then she asked: “What kind of Jesus was this who likes that other woman so much he would jump at her beck and call and grant her silly requests, but who did not like me enough to give me the one selfish thing I prayed for. . . a baby. It makes me angry and it hurts!” What would you say to that woman’s anger and hurt?
ChristianGlobe Network, ChristianGlobe Illustrations, by Robert W. Bohl