Common Misconception Part I: We have power over our God.
Last night I was sitting on the side porch with my family talking about getting accepted to medical school, and they said something that at first made me laugh a little but then got me thinking. They were talking about God answering prayers. Someone said something along the lines of “God must have been tired of all our prayers and said we got to get her in so these people will stop praying about it all ready!”
I love when God gives me something I ask for, not because I got something that I wanted but because it reminds me that He is here with me. But sometimes I love when God gives me something I didn’t ask for, or even more when He says no. I don’t believe that God doesn’t answer prayers. I think he answers each and every prayer we sincerely pray to him- I just think sometimes His answer is no. And His answer is no because He doesn’t always give us what we want. When I was first applying to medical school and starting hearing back from schools, I always had this hope that the answer inside the letter would start with a “Congratulations!”, not a “Thank you for your application, but unfortunately…” But what I came to learn as I continued to read “We regret to inform you…” is that I was thankful to God for His guidance and support. I was thankful that He said no, this isn’t the right time for you or this isn’t the right place for you.
God knows what we want, he hears us. But, that doesn’t mean we have power over him. We’re not his nagging children that He gives into if we just ask enough, and pout, and give reasons why we should have certain things in our lives. God doesn’t give us what we want; rather He gives us what we need. God knows what we need far better than what we think we need for ourselves. And I thank God for that. If we had power over God, and thought we knew what we needed better than Him then everyday would be a sunny day. We’d all be driving beamers, have the best looking boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife, and we all would be working a job we loved that never stressed us out. But there are rainy days. There are storms because God knows that sometimes we need storms to appreciate the sun. We need things that aren’t perfect on the outside so that we can see the value on the inside. Sometimes we need hard times to not only better appreciate the good times, but to remind us that our Savior is with us every step of the way if we call on Him.
I feel like this entry has kind of shifted off topic, but I guess that’s the path that it was meant to take. I just wanted to remind myself and whomever may be reading this that we don’t have power over our God. He doesn’t give in to our wants, because he knows what’s better for us. God graciously and mercifully gives us what we need.
I came to this amazing place of peace only a few months ago where I prayed to God, “Okay, God, I’m listening. I’m done talking... I’m finally listening. Please just let me see what I need, because I know your plans for me are so much greater than what I could have possibly planned for myself. So if I need a year off or two years off, I’m going to be thankful. If I need a complete change of career choice, that’s just fine too. It’s better than fine, because I know that if I trust in you, that you’ll give me something greater than the chains of this world. When I think of an eternity with you, my career doesn’t seem so big after all.”
I’m not saying wants are all bad. A friend recently reminded me of that. I told him I was worried that my aspirations for myself would get in the way of God’s plans for me. I didn’t want to be selfish about this whole medical school thing; I didn’t want my time on Earth to be about me. And he reminded me that sometimes these desires are put in our hearts because they’re God’s desires for us too. That he gives these ‘wants’ because it’s what he wants for us as well.
I am thankful to God for answering my family’s prayers, with a “yes” but not because it’s what they wanted or what I wanted. I just want to be led, and in my heart I know I need to be led and because of that I let go of “my plans” a few months ago.
So tonight, I thank God for leading me to what I need, not what I want.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:25-33
