...led me here to this

"Thank God for all I missed, Cause it led me here to this." (Darius Rucker, This) 

This line has been running through my head this week, ever since hearing it on the radio while driving. 

Sometime I get so caught up in thinking and comparing and contrasting. I wonder why I've missed out on experiences that others have had, I wonder why my current life doesn't look a lot like my peers', I wonder why, I wonder why, and I wonder why... 

I keep asking God the "Why?" question, over and over again. One of my great friends is a mom to an awesome 3 year old boy, whose favorite question at the moment is "Why?" He wants to know the reason behind everything, and he asks the "why" question over and over again. I imagine that a lot of times when I am talking to God, I sound like my friend's son. 

"Why, God? Why is ____ (fill in the blank) happening? Or why isn't ______ (fill in the blank again) happening?" My why questions could go on and on. 

I know that God is in control, and that He is good, all the time. But sometimes I have a hard time putting that knowledge into practice, a hard time choosing to trust in God's timing and not in my own. 

And sometimes, God uses a country song to remind me how blessed I am, right here and right now. He uses a country song to remind me that although maybe I feel like I'm "missing out" on things, His timing and His plans are better. 

Whatever things I've missed in the past, whatever things I might be missing now in this stage of life, I can be confident that none of it is out of God's hands, and He will use it for His glory and my good (Romans 8:28). 

As I think through things that I'm "missing" now, I am grateful. Grateful because I trust in the God who knows me better than I know myself (Psalm 139), the God who knows my thoughts, knows my comings and my goings, and knows what is indeed best for me. I might not know the answers to my "why" questions, but I know that my Heavenly Father is caring for me. He hears every prayer, He sees every tear, and He knows what is best. He will lead and He will provide. 

I think about the things I am currently praying for, and the "why" questions I am wondering about, and I think about the things I've prayed about in the past, and another song comes to mind: "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks, specifically the chorus. 

The chorus says this: 

"Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." 

picture from google images

Now, I have to clarify, I don't think that God leaves prayers unanswered. I believe He ALWAYS answers. But I do believe that many times His answers are a "No," and sometimes the no's feel like unanswered prayers. I think that is what the song above is referencing. I stumbled upon a quote that fits in with this: "I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered." -Jean Ingelow 

How different my life would look today if God said yes to all my prayers... and I don't think it would necessarily look different in a good way. So often my prayers can be selfish, and prayed out of my tiny perspective, instead of praying for God's better and bigger perspective. Praise God that He knows best! 

So as I sit here tonight, thinking about the "unanswered prayers" or the "no's," and about the things that I feel like maybe I'm missing, I am choosing to be grateful. 

Thank God for the things that I've missed, because He has led me here to this: a place in my life where only He could have brought me. A place with many joys, and yes, sorrows too, but He is good. And He is enough. 

Thank God for the "unanswered" prayers, because by His saying no He is leading me to something better, whether that is something now or later on down the road. He knows best, and His timing is better than mine. I trust in His guidance, and I trust that He is good. 

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11 AMP