An Unanswered Prayer

A couple of years ago, I was deep in prayer about Mr. Wicke's employment situation. Working for yourself is hard and stressful, and before the economy plummeted the grass looked greener everywhere else. Mr. Wicke had been looking for another job, and nothing--I mean nothing--was happening for him. It is heart wrenching to watch someone you love struggle. Especially when that someone is good and decent to their core. And so I prayed...a lot. I begged, pleaded, cajoled, wept, and even sometimes complained. That kind of prayer. And still...nothing.

"Dear God, are you listening?" was at last the prayer of my heart. "Where can I find you?"

And then He was there in little things. Orders came in to Mr. Wicke's work out of nowhere. They did not make us rich, but they paid the bills. Mr. Wicke's heart became lighter. He slept. We loved each other more. Our children were happy and healthy. None of these were the big miracles I was looking for. Instead they were little answers to prayer, evidence that God indeed was aware of us. He was listening.

And then Mr. Wicke got a couple of interviews. They went well. It seemed a perfect fit. Everything looked so promising. Maybe this was the answer we have praying for? But no. They "went a different direction." He was "overqualified." He "wasn't quite right." "They hired in-house."

"Dear God, why? Are you still listening?" my heart quietly asked again. But I knew enough to trust and look for the little things. He was still there, and we could wait.

In the meantime, the economy crashed, and we watched as friends and neighbors lost jobs--good jobs, jobs they had had for a long time. Companies that seemed so vital cut back, cut costs, and cut personnel to stop their financial hemorrhage. It was frightening. Still, in our little corner of the world, orders came in, one drip in the bucket at a time, and we were okay. Not rich. Still careful, but okay.

"You know what's great about my job," Mr. Wicke asked one day. "I'll never fire myself." We laughed but with a sense of relief.

And those jobs that he had been so right for? Gone. Eliminated six months later. I shudder to think where we would have been if we had received the answer I was hoping for.

Looking in the rearview mirror at our life, I can almost catch God's eye in the back seat. He seems to be smiling knowingly. "See?" I hear him say. "I heard every word. I was right here the whole time."