At a Bible Study Fellowship Summit Meeting, a speaker coined this phrase – unanswered verses non-answer. I wondered what’s the difference? John Piper went on to explain what it means when God answers prayer with a non-answer. Huh?
Piper talked about faithful living in crisis. He told the story of a teenager named Joseph. Joseph was loved deeply by his father which made his older brothers angry and jealous. One day while the brothers tended their sheep, Joseph delivered some food from their father to the hungry men. While they ate, the brothers planned to kill Joseph, but decided instead to sell him to some traders from Egypt. After twenty years of Joseph faithfully serving the king of Egypt, the wife of Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard, falsely accused Joseph of assaulting her. Although Pharaoh loved and trusted Joseph, he had to throw Joseph in prison for the assault against Potiphar’s wife.
Joseph trusted God and waited. Finally, after two years, Joseph was set free and after a chain of events, was promoted to the second highest position in Egypt. Why didn’t God just not allow Joseph to be sold in the first place? Because God sees the bigger picture. Joseph was able to provide food and a place to live for his father and the rest of his family during a severe famine.
God always has a purpose whether our prayers seems unanswered or God answers with a non-answer.
Piper went on to tell a story of a road trip he and his wife and their four children took many years ago. He prayed in the morning that they would not have any breakdowns while traveling. But that very afternoon, their car broke down. What am I going to do – my wife and four kids in this heat? He got out, looked under the hood, “as all men do,” but John did not have a clue what was wrong. His then nine-year-old son suggested they pray. “Good idea,” John agreed, without telling the boy he already prayed that morning that they would not have any break-downs.
John prayed for someone to have a heart to stop and help them. They waited a short time before a man in a pickup stopped to help. He was a mechanic. He looked under the hood and diagnosed the problem immediately – it was the water pump. “My shop is just down the road. I’ll be happy to get a water pump and put it in for you,” he said.
Not long afterwards, the stranger returned, and replaced the water pump. Naturally, John Piper, a former pastor, talked with him about the Lord while the mechanic worked. At the same time, John’s son grew in his faith in God who answers prayer. John knew a different side of the story – God sometimes answers prayer with a non-answer because God sees the bigger picture and works out His purpose which always includes something better in order to strengthen our faith and bring glory to Himself.
During the same BSF Summit, Susie Rowan, Executive Director, talked about a phrase coined by J.R.R. Tolkien – eucatastrophe. The ‘eu’ means good. Good catastrophe. That’s when God uses a catastrophe to accomplish His purpose which is to strengthen our faith and trust in Him, and to bring glory to Himself.
So, dear ones, we can look at this pandemic as an eucatastrophe – God is leading us through this trouble while planning for our good. Hang in there. God is in control.