Be Careful What You Pray For

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8

This is my tenth legislative session. My circumstances have changed over the years. I started out as a volunteer.

Our family had moved to the Austin area for my husband’s job. Shortly after the move the company reorganized and Jerry became responsible for the sales staff in the northeastern United States. He left home on Monday mornings and came home on Fridays. The time in between left me in the exclusive company of three children and the dog. Upon leaving Houston, I had declared that with this move I had no intentions of getting involved in any community activities because we would just be moving AGAIN in a short period of time. I was not a happy camper.

But, my personality only allows me to pout for so long. One day I prayed, “Surely, Lord, You can use me for something.” That same day I made two phone calls. One was to the woman who later convinced me to run for the local school board and the other was to the executive director of the organization I volunteered for here at the Capitol. He surely answered my cry.

Several months passed. One day my husband called to tell me that his company had gone bankrupt and that he would be out of a job at the end of the week. My response was, “Praise God! That’s an answer to prayer.”

His response was one that should not be repeated in a daily devotional, but the general gist was to ask me what I had been praying.

I had been recruited to run for the local school board and was in the midst of a rather nasty campaign. My volunteer position had morphed into a part time job at the Capitol. And, I was juggling those responsibilities and the schedules of three children - two in elementary school and one in middle school. I had been praying that Jerry would be home more often to help me out.

No, I did not ask God to take away Jerry’s job. But, this was one situation where the Lord immediately showed me He was responding to my prayer. In that case, Jerry took over the campaigning for me and was the single most significant factor in getting me elected to the school board - a fact he would regret on more than one occasion over the next three years. Jerry remained out of work until things settled down on the home front and then the Lord provided another position for him.

God answers all of our prayers. Sometimes we just have trouble seeing how His answer fulfills our request.

Lord, open my eyes to see Your answers to my prayers. Amen