Sometimes He Calms the Storms of Life, Other Times He Calms You

What if We Didn’t Always Pray for our Problems to Go Away?

Photo: Marcus Millo from Getty Images

What do you do at the first sign of a problem?

That’s easy, I ask God to fix it, take it away, or change it for the better.

But what if we thought about it a little differently?

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2-3 (NASB 1995)

When facing the storms of life, God will sometimes calm them, but other times, He only calms us.

I heard a pastor say one time that maybe our prayer should be “Lord, help me through this trial.” instead of “Lord, fix this problem.”

If God always eliminated every hard situation, would we ever grow deeper in our faith? Would we learn to depend on Him totally?

We recently discovered my husband has a large mass. My prayer is for God to take it away and heal him. That’s not wrong to pray and hope for. After all, He is certainly capable of performing any miracle.

However, we know from life experience that God doesn’t always fix the problem, heal the disease, or keep bad things from happening to His people.

When my husband’s health issues continued over weeks, I added a prayer for the Lord to help us through this trial no matter what the outcome. I prayed we would learn what He wanted to teach us.

We’re still waiting for answers, but I know He is working for our good, just like He always has and always will. He will sustain us one day at a time, just as He will sustain you in the same way.

It’s never wrong to ask the Lord to fix a problem. That will always be our first reaction to adversity. But if He doesn’t, remember He’ll be faithful.

“…in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” Psalm 57:1 (ESV)

Dear Lord, resolve my problem, but if that’s not your will, help me to learn whatever you are teaching me. Bring me peace by trusting in You.