Why? Because.

Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be. – Oswald Chambers

Someone very close to me recently shared their frustration that God never answers the prayers they take to His feet.

Ouch.

To say I sympathize, is an understatement. Often, it feels as though God hears my prayers, my requests, my petitions, yet delays His response to the point it feels as though there will be no answer. Or at least, that is my perception. Oswald hit the “usefulness” nail on the head by pointing out that “we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.”

I believe it would be more useful if I lived closer to my kids’ school and our church. I have prayed this for a few years now. But still, we reside in our humble abode some distance from family, friends and the community we’ve been called to be in.

[my logic] if we’ve been called to be a part of this particular community, have our boys in that school, then it seems better served if we were closer to, if not in, that part of town.

Yet here we are. Waiting on God.

Because

I ask, “Why?” way too often. I nearly feel as though I am a two-year old with no better question to ask of my surroundings than, “Why?” It is as if I can not articulate my frustration, joy, anger, angst, contentment… or any emotion, for that matter, past simply asking, “Why?”

And often, the response I hear is, “Because.”

That is the total answer. Nothing more. Just, “Because.”

Now, I remember how exasperated I was when I was told, “Because,” when I was a wee lad. Heck, I have giggled maniacally at my own sons’ reactions when I tell them, “Because.” This is truly comical when Attaboy (all of five years old, mind you) throws his arms up over his head, rolls his eyes and harumphs at me.

But I digress…

“Because” does not answer anything. At all. It is a simple statement that implies a reason. Except that reason is never immediately revealed.

Or so we believe.

God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him – Oswald Chambers [emphasis mine]

[facepalm]

That’s where I miss the point. Every. Time.

This world, this life, everything, is all about HIS glory. HIS glory trumps all. So when His answer to my prayers is, “Because,” I need to hear the rest of His answer. It is actually closer to, “Because my creation is about glorifying ME.”

So, if my family needs to learn deeper contentment about our current location, I know that the end result will be in further glorifying Him. This is the heart attitude and condition that I fail to maintain when I am most discontent, when I feel that God simply does not answer, or want to answer, my prayers.

And really, who am I to tell my creator that I know better than Him?