When God Gives You Something Different Than What You Asked For

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. - Ephesians 3:20

It was a morning just like any other. My bed needed to be made. I had a ton of writing to do. There was a basket full of unfolded laundry that was begging for my attention. And I had a mile long to-do list to tackle. So how did I choose to start my morning?

With a Starbucks run.

Classic Kristen…choosing to procrastinate with coffee. But in my mind, if it was going to be a busy day, I might as well start it off right with a coffee frappuccino and a blueberry scone.

So I drove to my local Starbucks, and because the drive thru line was wrapped around the building, I parked my car and walked inside to order the old fashioned way. When it was my turn, I walked up to the barista and asked for my aforementioned order of frap and scone. She gladly rang up the frappuccino, but then apologized, probably more than she should have, that they had sold their last blueberry scone two hours ago. She offered me a blueberry muffin instead, but I was bent on getting that scone. My mind had been made up, and now that I knew I couldn’t get what I wanted, I told her to scratch the breakfast and I’d just settle for the coffee.

While I waited for my drink, I began searching for other Starbucks in the area and checking the app to see if they had blueberry scones in stock where I could go by and grab one on the way home. But then I thought, “Kristen. This is stupid. You don’t have time for this. You have way too much to do to be making two separate Starbucks runs just because you’re being stubborn and want a scone.”

Around the time the logical angel on my shoulder quit talking, my drink was ready at the bar. As I picked it up and grabbed a straw, my stomach growled so loudly that I knew I needed something on my stomach to make it to lunch. So I put my stubbornness aside, walked back up to the barista, and asked her for the blueberry muffin.

Fifteen minutes later I was back home, sitting at my desk, ready to start marking things off my to-do list. As I opened my email inbox, I unwrapped my muffin and absentmindedly took a bite, and…

Oh. My. Word.

Y’all. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried the blueberry muffins at Starbucks. But if you haven’t, you have my full support to do so. Dang those things are good.

I was so surprised as I sat there savoring the cakey, blueberry yumminess.. I’m not someone to go crazy over a muffin, but wow. I devoured that thing so fast and probably could have eaten a couple more if my will power and wallet would have surrendered. That muffin was so much better than the blueberry scone I was used to ordering. And to think I would have missed out on all of that delicious goodness if I had sided with my stubbornness and skipped breakfast because I couldn’t have exactly what I wanted.

It was when I had that last thought that I realized something. I wonder how many other things I’ve missed out on because I’ve been too stubborn to accept anything that wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I wonder how many times God had a blueberry muffin waiting for me, but I wouldn’t take it because He didn’t give me the scone I asked Him for.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m notorious for getting my heart set on something, my expectations locked in, and then when things don’t turn out the way I wanted, I get disappointed, hurt, stubborn, and, usually, mad at God. I get frustrated because He always seems to want to give me a muffin when I was looking for a scone. Why can’t God just give me the scone every now and then?

But what I realize now after that trip I took to Starbucks is that just because we don’t get exactly what we want, it doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to be disappointed. In fact, we might be pleasantly surprised! We might receive something we never thought we’d enjoy more than the thing we originally asked for. But we never would have realized that God could have something better for us if we weren’t first told that what we wanted wasn’t what was best.

So let me leave you with this question: What’s your blueberry scone? What have you asked God for that He isn’t giving you? What do you have your heart set on but it doesn’t seem like things are going to work out the way you want them to?

Trust me, friend. I know it’s tough to get your hopes up for something and then realize it’s not going to happen. But our stories don’t stop when plans change. God might just have a blueberry muffin waiting for you. So don’t skip breakfast all together. What He has in store might turn out to be even better and tastier than anything you could have ever asked for..