One Prayer God Answered in the Most Unexpected Way in my Life

I had prayed and prayed to God about it and had nothing else to say. So, I just simply left it at his feet and went about my normal everyday life trusting that he will bring it to pass in his own time. But I will always remember it as one prayer God answered in the most unexpected way in my life.

When God Seems Silent

Looking back, I can imagine how it must have felt for Hannah as she waited endlessly for God’s promise to come to pass in her life. She was childless and wanted a child to call her own and returned to Shiloh each year to put her request before God.

Sarah’s case was different as she was old and past child bearing age. But God had said that she would have a child and so she had to learn to trust God in the silence and wait for his word to come to pass in her life.

However, my own story was different. I was a mother to one child already and desired another child. Was it a selfish desire knowing that there were women out there crying out to have just one child? Yes, I was grateful to God for my life and the family he had blessed me with so far. But I was just being me wanting a bigger family and telling God the desire of my heart.

And so, the wait began. A year or two between birthing a child was fine by choice or by accident. But two, three and four years slipped by quietly and God seemed silent. This was enough to raise the anxiety level of any woman who desired conception. In my case, there were no health issues or concerns. I only needed to trust God in my waiting season and rest in his unfailing love for me.

How to Trust God in Your Waiting Season

Are you in a waiting season? Whether waiting silently for an answer from God, a change in your situation or waiting to hear the cry of a baby in your arms. I want you to know that even though God may seem silent, he is really working behind the scenes and will make all things beautiful in its time.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

In God’s calendar, there is a set time for everything. And in our lifetime, we may sometimes never fully comprehend his ways, but we can learn to trust in his will and plan for our lives. Here are 3 ways to trust God in your waiting season.

1. Keep Your Eyes on God

I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. – Psalm 16:8

In as much as my heart ached for an answer and my mind wandered to many places, I tried as much as I could to keep my eyes on God as I waited for my answer. Having God by your side helps to keep the anxiety levels down. And knowing that he is with you in your waiting season gives you the strength to stand strong and remain steadfast in faith.

2. Trust in God’s Faithfulness

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, for his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. – Lamentations 3:23-24

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. – 2 Timothy 2:13

God is a faithful God. He is a God who honors his word and brings his promises to pass. And even when the answer seems so faraway or never comes to be, you can rest in the assurance that God will never leave you helpless. I wasn’t so sure when and how God would choose to answer my prayer for another child, but I learnt to trust his promises.

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD! – Psalm 113:9

3. Count your Blessings

It is sometimes easy to overlook the many blessings in your life as you trust God for new miracles, blessings and testimonies. Being grateful for the little things opens up your heart to see more of God’s faithfulness in your life. I was thankful for the family he had given me – a husband who loved me and a son who brought so much light into our lives.

I gave God thanks for the moments of pure joy and laughter in my early years of motherhood. I learnt to thank him too through the pressures and overwhelm that came with caring for a newborn. And even though I was in a waiting season, I chose to recount the blessings of peace, joy and hope I had in my life in that season.

One Prayer God answered in the Most Unexpected Way in my Life

I recall the moment I told my friend that the test kit had the trademark bold double line stamped on it. She screamed in excitement over the phone and could not contain her joy. After all, she was with me through the waiting season encouraging me and holding my hands in prayer. The wait was over – God had answered our prayer.

September 2014 was the year. The company I worked for was in a bad state. Things weren’t looking too good and it was obvious that they were about to close shop. I had been there for 3 years. My son had just turned a year and a few months when I started the job. It wasn’t an easy transition but I had to learn to trust God to watch over my little child while I and his father were away at work. As my son grew older, I wanted another baby and kept trusting God for it. I prayed, I spoke affirmations, I gave to God’s work and held on in faith.

And so that faithful September, a good number of staff were laid off. I was one of them and had to go back home and try to figure out a new pathway for my life. But God had a different plan. October came quickly and for the very first time in years – little miss Red was late. And I was scared to take the test and kept waiting.

But then, I finally got to take the test and confirmed that God had shown up for me. I was pregnant again! And God chose to do it in his own time and his own way. I was elated that I was going to be a mother again. It was God’s call and he made it happen according to his plan and will for my life.

5 years later – I became a mother to a daughter. It was unexpected even though I had been praying all along. Perhaps I had a narrow view of God’s ways and felt God would show up when and how I wanted. Yet, God chose a season of one closed door in my life to unlock another door. He chose a season of loss (job loss) to prepare me to carry and birth life once again. These things we may never fully understand on this side of the world – but God who sees the end from beginning always knows how the story goes.

The answer wasn’t about me but about the journey and learning to trust him no matter what. It was God teaching me to wait patiently on him and not walk in my own wisdom or understanding. For in the waiting, my faith was strengthened and hope daily renewed. And in an unexpected time and season, God showed himself faithful and in an unexpected way as a God who holds all times and seasons in his hands.

What is that one prayer that God has answered in an unexpected way in your life?

Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one’s thoughts. – Elisabeth Elliot

“When we come to a place where we trust that God’s timing is perfect, we can be content no matter where we are because we know that God will not leave us there forever. Maintaining a passion for the present means embracing the light we have where we are at this time and trusting that it is enough.”— Stormie Omartian

Read also: 

How My Faith Has Changed Over the Years

Five People Who have had the Biggest Impact on my Faith