Answered Prayers

One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.      Romans 1:10

There are days that I miss road life. And there are days when I don't!  I have friends scattered across the country and around the world, and while I love the technology that lets me stay somewhat connected, I miss the face-to-face interaction.  I miss sharing meals and having conversations and just being present, even if it may have just been once or twice  a year that we would be together.

I think there is a lot I could learn from Paul.  He, too, was a traveling minister.  He didn't have the travel luxuries that I had - no bus, motorhome, truck, or airplane took him from place to place.  And he didn't have the benefit of technology to communicate with the churches he visited.  And yet, Paul's "archaic" communication - the letters he wrote to churches - make up some of the most frequently read and quoted verses in Scripture, and his words continue to speak to believers today.  (Imagine what Paul could have done with the internet!)

Paul wrote letters to the churches he had visited.  He also wrote letters to churches he wanted to visit.  He didn't stick the letters in envelopes with stamps and addresses and drop them in a mailbox somewhere.  Paul's letters were hand delivered.  It kind of blows my mind to think about the investment that was made in time and effort for Paul's letters to be written and delivered.  And the impact of that investment was incredible!

In my daily Bible reading, I have just finished the book of Acts and am starting on the Epistles now.  I only got as far as the tenth verse of Romans 1 before I was struck with a fact I have overlooked for years.  Paul hasn't actually met the Roman believers yet.  He's heard about them.  He's prayed for them.  But He hasn't met them yet.  He wants to meet them.  He wants to have the opportunity to sit down with them, and share a meal, and have conversation, and just be present.  And that is what Paul is praying for, because Paul understands that prayer is his best hope for seeing the dream realized.  He wants to go to Rome, and so he prays for the opportunity to go to Rome.

Paul's prayer will eventually be answered.  

What makes Romans 1:10 so significant to me is what I have just read in the book of Acts.  I read about the time when Paul finally gets to go to Rome.  You know how he got that opportunity?  He got arrested!  Paul gets arrested, people try to kill him, he spends some time in prison, and eventually, he is sent to Rome to stand trial.  On the way there he takes a rough ride through a storm, gets shipwrecked, and snake-bitten.  But he does ultimately make it to Rome.

We need to understand that the answers to our prayers don't always look like we thought they would.  Usually, when I pray, I have an idea in my head of how I would like for my prayers to be answered.  I often explain in great detail to the Lord how I think He should do it.  Not surprisingly, that's not how things actually turn out.  So far, I have not been arrested or shipwrecked or snake-bitten, and I am very thankful for that!  

The bottom line today is this: in that difficult circumstance you are facing in life, could it be that God is actually answering a prayer you've prayed?  We can get so bogged down in the struggles that we end up missing the opportunities the Lord is placing before us.  We get so busy talking and asking/begging/pleading with God that we forget to listen for His answer.

I encourage you to take a step back today.  Pause in your asking long enough to listen for the answer.  It is possible that the very circumstance you are asking God to deliver you from may be the path by which He will choose to answer.  

This is a pattern we see throughout Scripture...  Noah and his family went through a flood.  Joseph was bullied, sold into slavery, and wrongfully imprisoned.  The Children of Israel had to go through the wilderness before they could get to the Promised Land.  The disciples had to be in a boat in a storm before they understood that Jesus could calm the storm.

In whatever storm you may find yourself today, consider what it is that you have asked God for.  I invite you to look a little deeper into your circumstance to see if maybe - just maybe - you can begin to see that God is at work.  Your prayers are being answered.  Just remember that the answer may not look like what you expected.

...Just a thought...