I’ve been trying to process something since yesterday. And I’m nervous it’s going to fall on deaf ears, but I can’t control that.
Usually during the summer months, for whatever reason, we don’t have extra [money] to go out and do stuff. Both Father’s Day and my birthday are in the summer so celebrations for me take hits.
For Father’s Day both [my wife] Michelle and I had been praying that God would provide a little extra for us to go out, even for just fast food. God didn’t provide the extra and I was a little hurt by that.
Anyway, [that] afternoon, when we would’ve been out if we had had money, the refrigerator caught on fire.
My dad was in the living room and my mom was in her room. I went into the kitchen and noticed a weird smell. I showed it to Michelle, and she noticed it too. So, I got my parents and we couldn’t figure it out.
The smell was strongest around the fridge and Michelle heard a grinding sound coming from it. So, we pulled the fridge out to see behind it. As soon as we did that flames shot out from the bottom of it. I was able to unplug it and the flames died instantly.
Thankfully, my parents have a second fridge in the garage, so we moved all the food to that one. Then it hit me that if we had been out of the house that could’ve ended being a lot worse than it was.
I had no idea that the fridge was going to explode that day, all I could think about was how I didn’t get what I wanted.
But God knew.
What a blessing it was that He didn’t say “yes” to my request.
And I guess that’s what I’m trying to process right now. That even when God says “no” to us it’s for our good. Sometimes it might feel like we’re being punished or overlooked, but in reality He’s looking out for us.
So next time you ask God for something and He says “no” or “not yet”, realize that a better blessing is coming, and it wouldn’t have happened if He had said “yes” to the original request. |THIS.
[By Erik Stephen]
