Why Does It Feel Like God Is Keeping Me From Something Good?
Happy Friday friends! Today I want to tell you a story that one of my roommates shared with me not too long ago. This anecdote has been stuck in my mind ever since I heard it, and my hope is that it will have a lasting impact on you as well!
My roommate Nicole works as a full-time nanny. The family she nannies for has three children, the youngest of which is a nine-month-old baby named Charlie. Nicole spends a lot of her time helping take care of Charlie. She plays with him. She changes his diapers (God bless her). She rocks him to sleep. And of course she feeds him.
One particular day, she had put Charlie in his crib so she could go warm up his afternoon bottle. Charlie was hungry, so naturally he did what all babies do when they’re hungry: he started crying. And by crying, I mean screaming. He wanted his bottle and he wanted it now.
Meanwhile, Nicole is in the kitchen, waiting for the bottle to finish heating up. She said she went in to check on Charlie and tried to get him to settle down while he waited, but nothing seemed to work. He kicked and screamed and boo-hooed, not understanding why he couldn’t have his bottle at that very moment.
As Nicole was telling me this story later that night after she got home from work, she talked about how she wished she could have just explained to Charlie why he couldn’t have his bottle yet. She wasn’t trying to withhold his lunch from him. It just simply wasn’t ready as promptly as he cried for it to be. She thought about how she could have given him the bottle as soon as he cried for it, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as delicious or satisfying if she had. In fact, it would have been flat out gross. But Charlie couldn’t comprehend all of that. All he knew was that he was hungry, and Nicole was taking way too long to deliver his bottle.
Once she finished telling the story, we were both smiling, unable to ignore the parallel between Nicole’s experience with Charlie and our own experiences with our Heavenly Father.
I’m sure you can relate. How many times have you wanted something, and wanted it NOW? You just couldn’t understand what was taking God so long? Why did he seem to be taking His sweet time preparing the thing you were asking for? If you’ve ever had any of those thoughts, I want you to know you’re not alone. I would need way more than two hands to count the number of times I’ve asked these questions myself.
But have you ever stopped to think that maybe God had a reason for not giving you what you wanted right when you wanted it? Or think about this: what if you thought what you wanted was good, but it turned out not to be that good after all?
I’m definitely guilty of that last question. I was convinced that a certain job would be a GOOD career move. I really thought that guy and I would be GOOD together. I was so sure that that specific college would be a GOOD fit. But when none of those things ended up being a part of my story, I automatically assumed that what God had for me instead would never be as GOOD as what I said I wanted.
I’ll never find a job as GOOD as that one.
GOOD guys like that don’t come along very often.
No other school will be GOOD enough.
It sounds silly when I read that out loud, because I was basically underestimating God, saying that there’s no way He could top my definition of GOOD.
Boy, was I wrong.
Psalm 84:11 has recently become a verse that I quote to myself often. It says:
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.” (NIV)
Read that third line again.
“no GOOD thing does he withhold…” (emphasis mine)
I have to say that to myself all the time. Whenever I’m tempted to feel disappointed or upset when something didn’t work out, when I feel like I missed out on something good, I recite that verse. And I remember that if the thing I wanted was good for me, God wouldn’t withhold it from me. So if something (or someone) is being withheld from me, then clearly God has something better.
This can be a very humbling thought process when you first start thinking this way. You have to come to grips with the fact that God’s definition of good and your definition of good are going to differ. That’s because while your viewpoint is limited to the present and the past, God sees the whole picture, future included. He knows how every decision, every circumstance, every relationship will impact you going forward, and He’s going to use that knowledge and that wisdom as He guides you away from what you think is good and leads you towards what He says is good.
Now, don’t get me wrong, what you think is good and what God says is good may not always be different. Sometimes what you want and what God wants for you are the same thing. BUT, the timing might just be off. That was the case with Charlie, wasn’t it? That milk in his bottle was a very good thing. In fact, it was exactly what he needed to fill his hungry tummy. But for it to be the best it could be, it needed to be warmed up, meaning that Charlie had to wait for it. That can happen in our lives as well. We may be on the right track with wanting the right things, but some waiting may be required while God prepares whatever (or whoever) it is that we’re asking for.
So, the next time you feel like you missed out on something GOOD, I hope you won’t make the same mistake I did and get disappointed and frustrated with God. On the contrary, I hope that you remember your Heavenly Father withholds NO GOOD THING from His children. He wants His absolute best for you, and He promises that His best will be so much better than anything you could ever ask for or imagine on your own (Ephesians 3:20). So sweet friend, why don’t we hold Him to that promise?
P.S. My roommate Nicole has just taken a huge leap of faith and launched her own blog! It’s called All The Redeemed, and I’m super excited that she’s sharing this project of hers with the world. Her blog is a place where you can receive godly encouragement and hear stories of God’s redemption in the lives of so many women like you. So be sure and check it out at alltheredeemed.com. You’ll be so glad you did!