Things Unseen

For we walk by Faith, and not by sight.~ II Corinthians 5:7

Be careful what you ask for…

We whisper our desires when we talk to God,

crafting gilded palaces inside our minds,

painting visions so flawless, so brilliant,

that when the blessing finally arrives,

we walk right past it.

We often miss the blessing because the cover of the book

does not match the pages we wrote in our own heads.

We confuse the blueprint of our wants

with the quiet grace of our needs.

Be careful what you ask for.

When you speak to the God,

know that he listeth to the heart, not the ego.

You pray for financial relief,

and when the weight on your shoulders lifts,

when the daily panic fades into quiet quietude,

you call yourself forgotten

simply because the answer came as a steady breeze

instead of a winning lottery ticket.

You beg for a way to navigate,

a path through the “wilderness of broken wheels”,

and a bus fare appears,

or an outstretched hand offers a ride.

“Where is my new car?” you cry,

blind to the fact that your feet are moving,

unaware to the truth that your prayer was heard.

Be careful what you ask for.

You ask for peace,

yet forget that peace is forged in the fires of chaos.

You pray for joy,

not realizing it is birthed through the valley of grief.

You seek abundance,

but first must learn the lean wisdom of poverty.

You pray for love, for a partner to walk beside you,

and when a soulmate arrives to hold your heart,

you turn them away;

because they do not match the polished portrait painted in your mind.

Be careful what you ask for.

God does not cater to the flesh.

He gives us what we need to prove our spirit,

testing whether we walk by sight… or by faith.

He hands us the rough, unpolished stone

to see if we have the vision to hold it with care,

to see if we truly trust the blessing that’s handed to us;

before He hands us the diamond.

Before you receive what you want,

you must honor what you need.

For that is where faith lives.

Now,

Do you understand?

Humanity often misjudges God’s answers because we view our prayers through sight, expecting blessings to arrive wrapped in the glamorous, physical forms we envisioned. However, God responds through faith, delivering the quiet, exact spiritual provisions we need rather than the material desires we want.
We pray for relief, peace, or companionship, but walk right past the blessing because it looks like a bus fare instead of a new car, or a steady breeze instead of a winning lottery ticket. We reject the gift simply because the cover doesn’t match the story in our minds.
True is, faith recognizes that the very things we ask for come forged through their opposites: peace is born in chaos, joy is birthed through grief, and abundance is understood after poverty.
The Test of Trust: Before God entrusts us with the fleshly “want,” He offers the unpolished “need.” Accepting the unpolished stone proves we are walking by faith in the Giver, rather than by sight of the gift.

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