unanswered prayers...

When I was younger I went through a stage where I had Garth Brooks' "No Fences" on repeat... and by repeat I mean I kept rewinding the cassette and playing it over and over again (cds were still a new fangled invention that had not made it into my home yet). My mom was not so thrilled. She thought "Friends in Low Places" was teaching me to be an alcoholic, "The Thunder Rolls" was advertising marital affairs and she argued the theology behind "Unanswered Prayers." Despite her warnings, I couldn't stop loving some garth!

At the same time, I don't believe in unanswered prayers. I think "unanswered" implies God isn't listening or speaking to us when in reality I think He always knows better than we do and sometimes He asks us to wait, or doesn't answer the way we want Him to.

In the song, Garth is reminiscing about a high school flame he had spent praying "God would make her mine." After running into her at a high school football game with his wife years later, he thanked God for not answering his prayer. Again, I'm not buying into the "unanswered" part, but I love when God gives us perspective on our prayers after the fact. I can't tell you how many times I've prayed for God to make a guy mine forever... or to give me that job I just had to have... or to heal my friend or family member.

Looking back... I know God has closed the door on so many things in my life for good reason. The relationships I stressed over in high school seem so petty now. If I had been offered a different job, there are so many other things and people I would have missed out on. With social media what it is today, I don't even have to go back to a high school football game to thank God for all of the prayers He didn't answer the way I wanted. That's not to say there aren't prayers I've been praying for years and will keep praying... God keeps answering one way and I keep praying someday He'll change his answer...

In the moment, we don't always understand His answers, but I'm thanking God for perspective.