by Angela Moreno

A couple of year ago, I had a raging battle with my flesh. I desperately wanted something, but this went against what someone else wanted. I went through many stages trying to deal with this issue:  I tried ignoring it, pleading for God to take it away, and fell into a deep depression over it. The issue would overtake me at times and affect my mood greatly.

Finally, I came to a realization that God put this in my heart for a reason, and I was thinking through the situation in my flesh and not from my spirit.  Once I turned it over to God, I had an easier time dealing with it.  The issue was still on my mind, but it didn’t overtake me as badly as it used to.

Every single one of us has an issue that we are facing that seems so overwhelming and can easily affect how we perceive “our” world.  We all have challenges that we face every single day that try to overtake our peace and our happiness.

So what makes the difference?  It’s how we deal with the problem and who we turn to with our problem.

One of my favorite bible stories is the story of Ruth.  Just to recap, an Israelite family moved to Moab from Bethlehem because of a famine.  The family consists of a father, mother, and two sons.  Once in Moab, the two sons marry two women: Ruth and Orpah.  Soon after, all three men in the family die leaving the women destitute and poor.  Naomi, the mother-in-law, choses to return to Bethlehem to be with her extended family and urges Ruth and Orpah to return to their families as well.  Ruth refuses and returns to Bethlehem with Naomi.  In Bethlehem, Naomi and Ruth’s situation isn’t much better.  Ruth is left picking leftover barley from the harvest to feed herself and Ruth. However, Naomi sees an opportunity for Ruth to better their situation and Ruth eventually marries the owner of the field, Boaz.

Let’s analyze this story so we can see how we can apply it to our lives.  Naomi and Ruth are widowed after the death of their husbands.  Anyone who has ever lost a spouse knows how devastating this can be.  Naomi and Ruth easily could have thrown their hands in the air and said they give up.  They could have fallen into a deep depression or they could have expected everyone else to take care of them.  But we know they didn’t; they took their bad situation and looked for an answer.  They turned to God and Jewish customs. They took care of themselves and tried to better their situation. Eventually they decided to return to Bethlehem.

In Bethlehem, their situation didn’t changed much.  They are still destitute and poor, but  look for a way to feed themselves.  However, Naomi and Ruth are following God and relying on His provision.  A common custom in Israel is for farmers to leave behind some of their harvests for the poor.  Ruth isn’t afraid to go to the fields and work for her food.  Ruth isn’t looking for a handout.  She diligently works right beside everyone else gathering her dinner for the evening.

Ruth easily could have made the same choice Orpah made and stayed where she was comfortable, but she was loyal to Naomi and relied on God to take care of her. She could have ran away and she could have tried fixing the situation on her own, but she relied on God to take care of her.  Ruth was greatly rewarded for her loyalty to Naomi and to God. Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David and in turn a direct descendant of Jesus Christ!  Her lineage birthed our Lord and Savior.  If she had made decisions that were comfortable and familiar to her, Ruth would have missed out on this tremendous honor!

God loves us all so much.  He wants us to have what our hearts desire, but He also knows what is best for us.  In my situation, I was praying for answers, but I wasn’t asking the right questions or for the right help.  I wanted Him to change someone else’s mind, I wanted Him to change the desire of my heart, and I wanted Him to make everything better with little to no work on my part.  I didn’t want to have to change anything I was doing and I never asked what God wanted for me. Once I did, I had peace.

Now if I can just work on patience.

Next time you feel like your prayer isn’t getting answered, ask yourself if you are praying for the right thing.  I was praying for the wrong thing and I was never going to have the answer I wanted.  I had to understand that God will never change someone else or your situation to fit your idea of what they should be.  God’s also not going to fix your situation if you aren’t doing what you need to be doing either.

God can’t fix our mistakes or answer our prayers when we aren’t following His advice. Sometimes we have to step outside what is comfortable and familiar to us to make a true change in our lives.