This past Saturday January 1st 2022 I decide along with my brother and business partner Adam and a couple other friends to go Kayak Bass Fishing on Cherokee lake.
When Adam and I got on the water, we stopped for a few minutes to pray over our day on the water.
In that prayer we asked God to protect us and watch over us as we fished.
Yes, we threw in that prayer a request to catch some fish, but most importantly to protect us because we knew what the weather was going to be like that day.
The weather report was calling for high winds upwards of 25 mph and a slight chance of rain.
We had asked God to tame the winds if it was His will do so, but regardless, just keep us safe on the water.
So after our prayer we commenced to fishing in our kayaks.
Not long after we had started fishing we were joined by Josh and Scott King who we fish with in some of our local tournaments.
Adam decided to stay on the right side of the lake and I had decided to cross even though he had made the choice not to.
After crossing back to where he was and talking with him for a few minutes finally the Kings had gotten on the water as well and Josh had decided to cross the lake again where I had been fishing already.
So, I decided to follow him and get back to fishing where I had been previously.
By this time the wind had started picking up and we experienced some very strong wind gusts and just about every second that had went by I questioned whether or not I had made a good choice by continuing to fish or should I just go ahead and get off the water.
I began praying again and asking God to tame the wind, but He never did and I am grateful that He didn’t.
When God’s Will Isn’t Ours What Do We Do?
Not every prayer we make is going to work out the way we imagine.
Sometimes God’s will is opposite of ours and we need to learn from that and realize that His intention for our life may not always line up with what we imagine or even expect.
When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemene (as the son of man) he prayed regarding the cross that he was about to have to carry and petitioned the Father in Heaven, “if it be your will, let this cup (the cross and excruciating painful death He would experience) pass from me.
In other words, He was asking that if there was another way forward, let it happen.
But, Jesus throws a curveball and says, “nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.”
Jesus showed us that sometimes the Fathers will is going to be opposite of ours.
Not every prayer we utter will be answered in the way we hoped it would.
Sometimes God has a bigger plan.
Sometimes His plan is to increase our faith by showing us something different.
Sometimes that different means that we are going to have to endure hardship regardless.
It’s in those moments our faith will either grow or be diminished.
I am beyond grateful that God did not tame the winds that day. Let me explain below.
When God Says No! How Will You Respond?
When God says no, that doesn’t mean He loves us less, or just isn’t listening to our petitions.
Our immediate human response when we are told no usually causes us to believe that someone doesn’t have an interest in what we might be interested in or desire.
With God, that is just not the case.
He cares about us regardless of the circumstance or obstacles we might have to face.
Did I get aggravated because of what I was dealing with? Yes. I even at one point asked Him why He didn’t care enough to stop the wind.
But then I realized it, It wasn’t His choice for me to be on the water during those conditions.
I made this decision to be on the water knowing what the conditions would be like.
It was my choice to cross the lake a second time after I had already dealt with the wind earlier that morning.
Once I realized God was not going to stop the wind and I determined in my mind that I was going to endure the weather regardless, I realized that what my prayer should have been was for Him to to keep me safe and to not focus so much on what was happening around me.
I then remembered the story of when Jesus met Peter on the water, and He allowed Peter to venture on the water with Him.
During that time Peter had a choice, He could focus on everything around him, or He could focus on the One who could control the weather.
Just like Peter we find ourselves focused so much on the wrong things and we begin to sink.
When God’s Will Is Better Than Ours?
What I realized on the water that day was that no matter what, God was with me regardless.
So I decided that maybe it’s not God’s will to tame the wind, but it was God’s will for me to stay faithful to Him regardless of the circumstances around me.
On one occasion I nearly went into the water chasing one of my expensive rod/reel combos.
I was bound and determined that was not going to happen so I made a very quick and somewhat dangerous move to go after my combo that could have left me in the cold water and put me in a much different situation that would have made the wind alone look like nothing of great importance.
Thankfully, I saved my rod/reel from disappearing into the lake in about 30 ft of water and I was able to stay dry and not make things even more complicated for my friend who was fishing with me.
It may not have been His will for the wind to die down, but It was His will to allow me to learn a very valuable life lesson.
You see, this life is filled with choices that we are given the opportunity to make.
My brother Adam decided he was going to go ahead and scoot on out. At first, I didn’t understand, but later after everything that had took place on the water, I realized that God was with me the whole time and that ultimately I should not have put myself in the situation I was in.
The key takeaway from all of this is that sometimes we are just stubborn as humans and we expect God to get us out of situations that we put ourselves into.
In those moments God is going to allow us to live out our choices, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us or care about our well being when the answer is no.
He loves us regardless. But, He does give us free will and the choices we make, good, stupid or just plain old ignorant are choices that we must live with.
In the end, God’s will is always better than ours and we must learn that He will always be with us regardless of what is going on around us.
I pray you learn this and even when the answer is no, you will stay faithful regardless.
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