The answer I didn’t expect was created because it wasn’t within my design.
I asked for Strength, God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom; God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for Courage, God gave me difficulties to overcome.
I asked for Love, God gave me troubled people to help.
James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Missed Answers
When I first read this quote, it stopped me. Not because it was profound, which it is, but because it held a mirror to my own life. For years, I have prayed for strength, wisdom, courage, and love. But I didn’t always recognize the answers when they came. Sometimes, they appeared as an inconvenience; other times, as a hardship. And often, they showed up wearing the face of someone in need.
Proverbs 16:16, “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!”
“Faithful servants have a way of knowing answered prayer when they see it, and a way of not giving up when they don’t.” – Max Lucado.
It’s easy to assume that when we ask God for something good, the answer will be immediate and obvious—a clear path, a burst of energy, a wise insight at just the right time. But more often, God works through the long road. He doesn’t hand us strength like a tool; He gives us opportunities to become strong. And that usually means facing difficulty, struggle, and pain— the kind that tests our resolve and stretches our soul until we feel like snapping.
Psalm 56:3-4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God, I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Answers Refined through Fire
I’ve worked among people who have very little by the world’s standards—materially, economically, and politically. And yet they are some of the wealthiest people I’ve known. Why? Because they live lives filled with difficulty that have taught them endurance, humility, and generosity. They don’t ask for an easy life. They ask for the grace to keep going. They don’t quote books, they live wisdom.
God’s answers are rarely what I imagined. When I asked for wisdom, I found myself in rooms where I didn’t understand the language or the culture, trying to solve problems I didn’t create. When I asked for courage, I was sent into uncertain territory, sometimes physically, often spiritually. And when I asked for love, I was given the chance to care for people whose needs and pain made me uncomfortable, people who challenged my assumptions, interrupted my plans, and needed more than I thought I could give.
1 John 4:7, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Answers Disguised as Burdens
In those moments, I’ve learned something important: God’s blessings often come disguised as burdens. And in serving others, especially the “troubled people” the quote mentions, I’ve discovered not only love but the very heart of God.
Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
This quote isn’t a feel-good slogan; it’s a map, a pattern, a reminder that the life of faith isn’t about avoiding pain or staying comfortable—it’s about transformation. We are forged in the fire of difficulty, not destroyed by it. We grow through the problems we’re called to solve. We find courage not in the absence of fear, but in facing it with purpose. And we learn to love by pouring ourselves out for others, especially those the world has forgotten.
True Blessings
So if you’re feeling overwhelmed or underprepared, take heart. Perhaps you’re not failing; maybe you’re in the middle of an answered prayer.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
