1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3 ESV
I wonder how often prayers are unanswered by God not because of the condition of the supplicant or the object of the supplication, but because the ultimate goal is off the mark.
In the first two verses we see what the Lord did for David. God heard and rescued. David's patience and prayers were rewarded. Why?
Was it so David could live a long, full life? Did God rescue David for David's sake? The answer to that question lies in the last half of verse three. "Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD." That should be the ultimate goal of all our prayers.
"Father, please heal, or don't heal, me from (fill in the blank). Whatever will bring the greatest number of people into your kingdom, that is my prayer."
"God, please protect my job, but if more people will enter heaven as a result of my unemployment, your will, not mine."
These are some scary prayers. David was rescued, but not for David's sake. His deliverance was the catalyst "many" needed to "put their trust in the LORD".
Our earthly suffering might be what God uses to save others from eternal suffering. Thirty years of arthritis might save one, two, or more people from a forever of damnation, if, as Christians, we use this world's suffering to reflect God's grace and mercy.
Ultimately, all that God causes or allows into our lives, good, bad, or ugly, should be a platform for His children to witness to others. Are we willing to trade our temporal for another's eternal?
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