Sigh …

I was in one Sunday School class today and all the rest of my Sunday School class was in another.

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Here’s what happened in the class they were in:

Me: I have trouble believing God really wants to use us in ministry (for example, in meeting the needs of the students I teach). I know Luke 11 says we can pray and ask God for what we need in ministry, and he will give it, but that doesn’t seem to happen, in my experience.

Others in my Sunday School class: You need to keep believing. Sometimes the answer God gives you isn’t what you were expecting, but if it’s from him, you can be sure it was good.

Me: [arguing for a while because I didn’t want to believe God could really answer]

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Here’s what happened in the class I was in.

Me: I have trouble believing God really wants to use us in ministry (for example, in meeting the needs of the students I teach). I was looking at Luke 11, though, and now I wonder if that is saying I can ask God to use me that way, and can trust him to do it. What do you think?

The rest of my Sunday School class: You can’t expect God to do the things you’re asking, to ask that he uses you to meet the needs of your students, because sometimes you ask for something and He knows it’s better for you to get something else instead. Besides, in context you can’t use that passage as a promise for your own personal prayer life.

Me: [Arguing a lot because I felt like they are trying to shoot down my newfound hope]

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So it turns out we spend 40 minutes debating the same side of an issue! It wasn’t until Kate and I talked about it later that I realized what had happened.

But God is still good!