Today’s Verse
“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
Psalm 145:9
When “Will” Meets Reality
Yesterday, we talked about moving from believing God can to believing God will. But today, I wanted to address what happens when you believed God would, and He didn’t. At least not in the way you expected. Not in the timing you needed. Not with the outcome you prayed for.
This is where faith gets brutally honest. You believed God would heal, and the diagnosis didn’t change. You believed He would provide, and the door stayed closed. You believed He would intervene, and the situation got worse. And now you’re left standing in the rubble of unanswered prayer, wondering: if I believed You would, and You didn’t, what does that say about You? About faith? About me?
There are no easy answers here. No tidy explanations that make the pain go away. The loss is real. The disappointment cuts deep. And it’s okay to sit in that space, to grieve what didn’t happen, to tell God honestly how much it hurts. He can handle your questions. He’s not afraid of your anger or your tears.
What we can hold onto, even when it feels impossibly hard, is this: God’s goodness isn’t measured by whether He gives us what we ask for. It’s rooted in His character, which doesn’t waver even when our circumstances shatter us. He’s still good when the miracle doesn’t come. Still present when the answer is no. Still grieving with you in the loss.
This doesn’t erase the pain or answer all the questions. Most of the time it raises even more. But it does give you something to stand on when everything else has crumbled. He is good. He is with you. And even in the deepest grief, He has not abandoned you.
Today, if you’re holding the weight of an unanswered prayer, you don’t have to force yourself to be okay. But you can lean into this truth: He is good. Even now. Especially now.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, when the miracle doesn’t come, help me trust You’re still good, even when everything in me questions how this can be true.
I’ve prayed, believed, waited, hoped, and the answer I desperately needed hasn’t arrived, and my faith feels shaken to its core.
Teach me that Your goodness isn’t measured by whether You give me what I ask for but by who You are, unchanging regardless of my circumstances.
When the healing doesn’t happen, the door stays closed, the breakthrough doesn’t come, it’s so hard to reconcile Your power with Your silence.
Help me hold onto Your character when I don’t understand, to trust that good doesn’t always look like what I expected or wanted.
Remind me that You’re still good, still faithful, still loving through it all.
Give me faith that doesn’t depend on favorable outcomes, that trusts You in the disappointment, that believes You’re working even when I can’t see how.
Let me rest in the truth that when the miracle doesn’t come, You’re still good, still present, still worthy of my trust, even through my tears and unanswered questions.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.