God's Answers To My Prayers Are...Sometimes Immediate, Sometimes Not

By Elizabeth Schatz

I get so tired of the rain! And it's raining again!

As we left church Sunday morning, it was raining---again. What was I to do with my daughter with autism while the rest of the family went to their Sunday school classes? Normally, I take my daughter on a walk, then we sit in our van and we do our own Sunday school lesson.

The others left and the tears flooded my eyes. God, I am so tired of it all! So tired of going forward. I don't want to go on anymore. Where are You, God? I need Your help right now. Please God, I need Your help! Amid the tears and crying out to God because of the struggles and difficulties in my life, I got my daughter and myself ready for our walk. When I opened the van door, it wasn't raining. "Thank You, God," I said aloud. "I know You are here. Thank You."

Later that morning I was hit with a migraine headache. I curled up on the bed, blanket over my head to keep the light out. I pressed my fingers, hands against my skull to try to stop the stabbing pain. The medicine wasn't working. I cried as the sharp pain intensified within my head. Please, God, make the pain go away. But the pain didn't go away. Instead of focusing on the pain and how utterly miserable I was, I repeated Blessed be the name of the Lord. The lyrics played through my mind: “Blessed be Your name. Though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your glorious name. Blessed be Your name on the road that is marked with suffering. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, blessed be the name of the Lord. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name.”

I repented of the times when I thought one girl in high school with me was a wimp when she had a migraine. I now knew how real the pain was and asked God to forgive my callousness and uncaring.

The pain continued---intense, unbearable, excruciating. Please God lessen the pain. Let me fall asleep so I don't have to feel this pain. I called upon the Great Physician to heal me, to take away, to lessen the pain. If there was even a microscopic lessening of the pain, I thanked Jesus and continued to pray, blessed be the name of the Lord .

The entire day passed. It was dark outside and I was still curled up in pain. It felt like my head was going to explode, the pressure was so intense and the pain so strong. Finally, at 7:30 pm I got up and readied myself for bed. I felt dizzy and moved at a snail's pace. I sat on the couch, leaning against the cushion. The rest of the family went to bed. I continued to ask God for healing, to take away the pain. The pain persisted.

I may have fallen asleep for short periods of time, but I heard the grandfather clock many times tolling at fifteen minute intervals. At 1:30 am the pain was much less intense, but my head still pounded. God, please make it stop. I took some ibuprofen and lay back down on the couch. Blessed be the Lord.

I awoke at five am and immediately noticed I felt no pain. Thank You, Jesus!
Why did God immediately answer my plea for His presence earlier in the day and then take fourteen hours to answer the second request? God knew I needed to know He is here for me, by stopping the rain, so through the pain of a migraine I would seek Him, praise Him, know He is here, for I needed that in my heart to get through the pain I was experiencing in my head.
Perhaps these two experiences are short lessons in how I am to rely on God and His infinite wisdom, mercy, and grace as I continue in a difficult marriage, one in which I've struggled for over a decade. God is here; He is watching over me, carrying me through the difficulties in my marriage. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Elizabeth Schatz writes from Medford, Oregon.