When God's Answers Aren't What We'd Hoped For

God always answers prayer.  But often His answers aren't what we had in mind when we prayed.

The other day I was reading Katie Davis' blog and she is telling the story of some recent heartbreaks she has lived through.  A dear friend was fighting for her life...fighting AIDS...and despite all the fighting and praying and believing, her friend died.  Here's a little excerpt:

"Some time last week in the too-early hours of the morning, I asked God why He allowed me to believe so strongly that Katherine would live when she wasn’t actually going to. I can usually get a pretty good sense for those things. It is hard for me to think that My Father saw me in my hope, He knew I was believing, and He simultaneously knew the ending. I think He answered that He gave me the grace to believe that she would live so that in her final days she would feel hope and high spirits all around her, so that she would feel that she was fought for and that she was worth the fight. She was worth it."

 It really rings true to me...that sometimes what seems like an unanswered prayer, is always, in some way, a God-answered prayer.  He sees the bigger picture.  He is eternity-minded.  Sometimes He answers "yes", sometimes it's a "no", and sometimes, it's somewhere in between.  And when He answers "no", it's His grace for us.  We don't easily see it that way, especially in the moment, but I've learned and continue to learn that His Grace comes in many different shapes and sizes.  Often in the shape of an "unanswered prayer".