USE CAUTION WHEN ASKING! By Marion Smith

We arrived at the 5 story Embassy Suite in Detroit, Mich., ready to unpack and settle in. “May I see which room we will be in?”, I asked. The receptionist showed me the floor plan of the hotel, and I proceeded to pick the perfect room for us. Only a few had balconies - fresh air was a must for me ! And, I had noticed when we walk in, there were a lot of birds in two trees out front. . perfect.. I want to hear those birds chirping their cheerful morning songs! As I opened the sliding glass doors to allow the refreshing cool breeze into our room, I was assaulted with the unrelenting drone of cars traveling on the freeway nearby. “Well,” I thought” that is o.k., the fresh air and balcony is worth the noise.” As we closed the door for the night, we were unable to shut out the freeway noise. The next morning we awoke and I could hardly wait to open those sliding doors and listen for the birds chirping their sweet songs from the trees. Instead I heard a raucous racket of angry mother birds protecting their nests in the eve above our balcony. As other variety of birds would sweep toward their nests, they would holler and squawk unmercifully. The sounds they made grated my nerves and I finally closed the door, trying to shut out some of the noise.

I was so disappointed- I had received exactly what I had asked for, and it turned out to be.. ”not so good”- to say the least!

This scenario reminded me how cautious I should be when I go to God with a request. Answers which I think may be “perfect” are not always so. Actually, my plans are very often quite bad, and always short sighted. God tells us in the Bible that –He has plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future( Jeremiah 29:11).-. I really need to be careful, as I pray, to seek God’s wisdom (looking in His Word) and praying for His guidance as I place my requests at the foot of His throne. I must always remember that He sees the big picture- not just a short term solution or a quick fix for something which I think needs immediate attention. When prayers are not answered in the way I had hoped, I need to return to that scripture which reminds me that God has a wonderful plan for my life and that of each person I pray for. Then I need to thank Him for being, and staying, in control.