Are you asking big questions? Are you getting answers?

This is often on my mind. I sometimes ask many things of God, and then nothing. Complete silence. It’s maddening at times. What I am learning when I can take a step back and think about that is that it’s not that God is silent or didn’t answer me, He just didn’t do it right now.

We live in the present- so all I have is right now, but God is not a vending machine where I can push the button and get what I want. (that would be awesome, wouldn’t it?) Let’s face it, when the answer comes to my question or my ‘ask’, it’s rarely right now and it’s hardly ever in the way that I thought it would be.

I recently came across words in a Bible study that told me to dream big, ask for what you want. What if what I want is not what I need? I can’t know that until afterwards. Think about that for just a second. I desire many things, I will not have all of them and that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Have you ever asked a ‘big question/big ask’ and then waited quite awhile? I have. I knew it was time to make different decisions in my career, yet it took me almost a year to find just the right thing. Was it worth waiting for? Absolutely! Was it frustrating/ disappointing/ challenging to walk through? Why yes, it was.

What lesson did I learn? It’s better to wait for the right thing than to just have a ‘right now’ answer. I ask/ pray a little differently these days. I still ask questions, ask for help, dream big, but I often end it with “and if that’s not your will God, give me peace in the answer”.

God does answer. When we think that we are praying with no response, take a step back, and look around for the messages God is sending you- it’s not what you think. Maybe the best answer there is to my ask, is no answer at all- because that is what’s best.

Today, I am paying attention to a few things. What I am praying about, how I am posing the questions, and then looking for how (and when) that answer shows up. Feel free to share a story in the comments about a prayer that was (or was not) answered. I love learning from other’s experiences. It helps me be more patient when waiting on my own answers.