You Can’t Be Sure Of The Answer

Joel 2:14
Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing —
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the LORD your God.

Joel writes of a coming disaster upon God’s people. The disaster is great and humanly unstoppable. The disaster is a punishment for sin that people have consistently refused to confess and repent. God will not wait forever for us to confess and repent our sins in our own time and pleasure. Some day without announcement, God will change the way He deals with us. God who has been pleading with us will now allow a disaster to awaken us. If words preached cannot stir you to turn to God, then maybe disaster in your life will do it. When we refuse to listen to words from God, disaster will call our attention.

Israelites had reached a point where sermons were daily and routine. They did not respond to God’s word. No great sermon or small sermon meant anything. They ignored messages from prophets, priests, and messengers. God had to change the way He deals with them, disaster replaced the sermon in calling their attention to God. Failure, loss, pain, and terror made them realize they are sinners and they need God.

Joel announces terrible times that are coming. The terrible times are to produce the same result that sermons failed to produce, a return to God. Sermons were to end by people returning to God in confession and repentance. Now disaster has come and hopefully, the people will now return to God in confession and repentance. It is very expensive to ignore the simple innocent word of God.

In our passage today, Joel the prophet announces the coming disaster. Then after Joel narrates the painful terrifying moments, he urges the people to return to God as they should have when simple words of God were preached. Then Joel tells them in our text today that perhaps God may forgive and stop the disaster from harming them. Joel says perhaps, Joel says who knows. When you pray, you can’t be sure of the answer. You can’t be sure of the answer but you can be sure of His goodness!

Prayer does not order God to do what we want. Prayer does not force God to do what we want. Prayer must not be answered as we requested. God is sovereign and free. He remains God even if He does not answer our prayers. We do not relate with God on the condition that He answers our prayers, no. We must remain faithful to God even if He never ever answers any of our prayers. Therefore when we pray we expect God to be good to us but not to do exactly what we requested. You can’t be sure of the answer but you can be sure of His goodness!

God will remain good. In answer to our prayers, we will experience God’s goodness that may be in line with what we expected as we prayed or may not be in line with our expectations. If God does not do what we asked for in prayer, it does not mean He will not do something else that is good to us. We can’t be sure of the answer God will give but we can be sure of His goodness. He will respond in a good way but not always as we requested. You can’t be sure of the answer but you can be sure of His goodness!

Job prayed daily but one-day disaster befell him. Even in disaster Job did not turn against God, because God is good under all circumstances. Jesus prayed that He can escape death on the cross, but He ended the prayer by asking God to do His will. God’s will was the opposite of what Jesus prayed for. God’s will was that Jesus dies on the cross He was praying to avoid. You can’t be sure of the answer to prayer but God will respond to every prayer with His goodness. You can’t be sure of the answer but you can be sure of His goodness!

What disappoints many is that we think and expect God to respond as we want. We feel we are not loved by God if He doesn’t answer prayer exactly as we requested. We think God does not exist and we doubt everything biblical because a crucial prayer did not get the answer we wanted. Yet the Bible never ever promised that God is our servant to do what we want. He is God and does what He wants. We are His. It is His world. He knows better than us. He is God whichever way He answers prayer. He is God who saved Daniel from the lion’s den. He is God who let Stephen be stoned to death and James and John’s heads to be cut off. You can’t be sure of the answer but you can be sure of His goodness!

Our faith is built on God’s goodness and not on Him doing what we want. A parent is good who lets a child be injected during the treatment though the child is crying to be spared from the moment. We force children to go to school. We deny children unhealthy foods. Yet we are good to them though we do not respond to their exact wishes. We are children of God, He knows better than us. He will grant not what we want but what is good for He is good to us. You can’t be sure of the answer but you can be sure of His goodness!

Dear God, may my faith be built on your goodness and not on answering prayer as I wish. May I be assured of your goodness even when everything goes wrong after I have prayed for things to go well. May I experience and be assured of the goodness of God always, in Jesus’ name, Amen!