God's Way, Not Your Way

“I am a firm believer that the Lord sometimes has to short-circuit even our best plans for our benefit.”

-- Tony Dungy, Super Bowl Champion Coach

Legendary college football coach, Lou Holtz, has been known to say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him what your plans are.”  Coach Holtz recounts how all through his early years, he would pray and pray to be a good athlete.  But God never answered that prayer.  Instead, God put Lou in the coaching field where for over 30 years, he had the pleasure and honor of helping young people become successful.  Lou knew he wanted to spend his life in athletics, and he thought he wanted to do that as a player, but God had a much better plan.

God will always answer your prayers, but not always by responding to your initial desire.  If He does not give you what you ask for, perhaps you should ask Him what it is that you need.  When you learn to listen for God’s point of view, you often become receptive to ideas you may have suppressed by your own way of thinking.  And just like Lou Holtz, you may find yourself eventually thanking Him for not answering your original request.