God Answers Prayers

    Recently I started looking for a new job. Overtime season was coming to a close at work, and with vaccine requirements reducing, it looked like a good time to find a job that I enjoy. I have spent the last four years in jobs that require steel-toe boots and a fair bit of dust. I am ready to wear my "Sunday best" to work and return to customer service or work in an office setting. The search for a new job began with a lot of prayer and a few resumes submitted.

    One night I was settling into bed and praying over my job search. God said, "step out in faith." So the next day, I got on Indeed and applied to a handful of jobs I had saved over the last few days. Feeling accomplished, I started praying over those submissions and waited for God to answer.

This past week I applied online for a job and then decided to go to the business and hand them a physical copy and show my face. Figured if it is a customer service job, what better way to apply than by showing my face.

    A week goes by without any responses from businesses or God. I felt frustrated. I know job hunting takes more time than that but when God gives you a direction and you follow it, most people want an answer. Or is that just me?

    One evening, Blessing and I are out for our evening walk, and I'm praying and telling God that I am tired of working in dirty factories/ warehouses and tired of my steel-toe boots. (side note, I love my steel toe boots, I live in them, but now I'm tired of them) I was wondering why I had not heard from God and wondered if God and I were in a transition in my prayer life. (I transition between journaling and praying while I walk) Usually, I do not notice that we are in a transition until I feel dry and wonder why I have not heard from God in a bit, and then I change our routine up, and we are back on track. Except I did not think we were in a transition period. Needless to say, I was feeling frustrated and a little lost. As Blessing and I walked, I reflected on the timeline of when God said to step out in faith and realized it had only been a week. I thought it had been longer. Guess I am impatient. The Holy Spirit then reminded me that the teacher is quiet during the test. Meaning, chill out. Go about your routine and chill out. Fine. I'll chill. Or at least I will try. I do not "chill" well, but I will try.

    A few days later, I am at work and was told that we are heading into overtime again (new department). As soon as I heard the news I knew that God was answering my prayer. Just not in the way I wanted, but it was an answer. Not that I want to spend more time in a dusty, dirty factor, but God has other ideas. I know it's God's answer because even though I have no interest in working in this factory, let alone longer hours, my family could use the money. Heck, with everyone trying to recover from Covid and how it has messed with everyone's finance we could all use extra cash. Plus I just got my six-month raise and my benefits. I figured we would use my benefits until I found another job, guess we will be using them a little longer than expected.

    I am not thrilled with God's answer, but I know He has a reason for why I am in this job, and I am going to do my best to have a teachable spirit and learn why He wants me there. Please do not think of me as a saint for that statement. I have simply worked in a few jobs over the last few years, and despite disliking them or at least parts of them, after the job was finished I was able to look back and understand why God had me in those jobs. And seeing how God does not change and always has our best interest at heart, I know He has a reason why I am staying in this job. So I will try not to grumble too much when I look in the mirror after work and see all the dust. 

    God answers prayers according to His will, not ours, and sometimes the answers do not look like what we want. Over the last few days, I have been reflecting on the prayers God has answered for me over the years, and I could not come up with an example of a prayer that did not turn out the way I wanted. Yes, some prayers were not answered in my timeline, but they were always the answer I wanted in the end.

    It has been an interesting experience having God answer prayer and not have it line up the way I wanted. Surprisingly I'm not mad. (Again, don't take that as me saying I'm an incredibly righteous woman of God. I have plenty of flaws). I'm not thrilled by His answer, I'd like to work somewhere cleaner, but I'm not mad or upset. I'm not shaking my fist at heaven, a few months ago, I did when I did not get a job I thought God wanted me to have, and instead, God gave me the job I have now. Guess you could say I have grown in the last few months, which is always a good thing, especially for a believer in Jesus Christ. If you are not growing in your faith and relationship with God, something is wrong.

    So friends, what prayers has God answered recently that did not turn out the way you wanted? How did you react? Feel convicted yet? 😜 I know I sure did when someone commented on my reaction to God's answer six months ago.

    I pray that this post encourages you, challenges you, and reminds you that not only does God hear our prayers, but He answers them too.

God Bless

~Hannah

Last Sunday Blessing and I went for a sunrise photo walk. Love how this photo turned out.

God truly is an incredible artist and has blessed me with a few photography skills along the way.