WEBVTT 00:00.080 --> 00:02.629 There is a particular kind of loneliness 00:02.629 --> 00:02.639 00:02.639 --> 00:04.950 that settles in when you have prayed the 00:04.950 --> 00:04.960 00:04.960 --> 00:07.749 same prayer for years and received only 00:07.749 --> 00:07.759 00:07.759 --> 00:11.749 silence in return. Not ambiguous signs, 00:11.749 --> 00:11.759 00:11.759 --> 00:15.430 not mysterious nose wrapped in spiritual 00:15.430 --> 00:15.440 00:15.440 --> 00:16.950 language. 00:16.950 --> 00:16.960 00:16.960 --> 00:19.670 Silence, the kind that makes you wonder 00:19.670 --> 00:19.680 00:19.680 --> 00:22.630 if the line is actually connected. Paul 00:22.630 --> 00:22.640 00:22.640 --> 00:26.310 knew this silence. In 2 Corinthians 12, 00:26.310 --> 00:26.320 00:26.320 --> 00:29.109 he tells us he pleaded with God three 00:29.109 --> 00:29.119 00:29.119 --> 00:32.630 times. Three to remove what he called 00:32.630 --> 00:32.640 00:32.640 --> 00:35.990 his thorn in the flesh. We don't know 00:35.990 --> 00:36.000 00:36.000 --> 00:39.030 what it was. That detail doesn't matter. 00:39.030 --> 00:39.040 00:39.040 --> 00:42.069 What matters is that he asked and asking 00:42.069 --> 00:42.079 00:42.079 --> 00:45.510 became asking again and asking again 00:45.510 --> 00:45.520 00:45.520 --> 00:48.869 became something like desperation and 00:48.869 --> 00:48.879 00:48.879 --> 00:50.389 desperation 00:50.389 --> 00:50.399 00:50.399 --> 00:52.709 eventually became something like 00:52.709 --> 00:52.719 00:52.719 --> 00:56.549 acceptance. But notice what changed. Not 00:56.549 --> 00:56.559 00:56.559 --> 00:58.709 his circumstances. God didn't remove the 00:58.709 --> 00:58.719 00:58.719 --> 01:03.349 thorn. Instead, God said, "My grace is 01:03.349 --> 01:03.359 01:03.359 --> 01:06.070 sufficient for you. For my power is made 01:06.070 --> 01:06.080 01:06.080 --> 01:09.109 perfect in weakness." Paul's answer 01:09.109 --> 01:09.119 01:09.119 --> 01:11.910 wasn't relief. It was a reframing of 01:11.910 --> 01:11.920 01:11.920 --> 01:14.630 what strength actually means. Here is 01:14.630 --> 01:14.640 01:14.640 --> 01:17.109 what most people miss. When your prayer 01:17.109 --> 01:17.119 01:17.119 --> 01:19.830 goes unanswered for a decade, when the 01:19.830 --> 01:19.840 01:19.840 --> 01:22.230 diagnosis doesn't change, when the 01:22.230 --> 01:22.240 01:22.240 --> 01:24.789 relationship doesn't heal, when the job 01:24.789 --> 01:24.799 01:24.799 --> 01:26.789 doesn't materialize, 01:26.789 --> 01:26.799 01:26.799 --> 01:29.670 God is not ignoring you. He is doing 01:29.670 --> 01:29.680 01:29.680 --> 01:32.550 something slower and stranger and more 01:32.550 --> 01:32.560 01:32.560 --> 01:34.789 valuable than giving you what you asked 01:34.789 --> 01:34.799 01:34.799 --> 01:37.590 for. He is teaching you that his 01:37.590 --> 01:37.600 01:37.600 --> 01:39.510 presence is not a reward for getting 01:39.510 --> 01:39.520 01:39.520 --> 01:42.469 what you want. It is the deepest good in 01:42.469 --> 01:42.479 01:42.479 --> 01:45.350 itself. This is the trial that produces 01:45.350 --> 01:45.360 01:45.360 --> 01:48.069 endurance, not the trial that resolves 01:48.069 --> 01:48.079 01:48.079 --> 01:51.429 neatly, the one that stretches you thin, 01:51.429 --> 01:51.439 01:51.439 --> 01:54.230 the one that forces you to choose. Will 01:54.230 --> 01:54.240 01:54.240 --> 01:56.630 I trust God even when trusting costs 01:56.630 --> 01:56.640 01:56.640 --> 01:59.190 everything, even when the cost is 01:59.190 --> 01:59.200 01:59.200 --> 02:02.069 measured in years? The person who has 02:02.069 --> 02:02.079 02:02.079 --> 02:05.109 prayed unanswered prayers and chosen to 02:05.109 --> 02:05.119 02:05.119 --> 02:08.710 believe anyway. That person has learned 02:08.710 --> 02:08.720 02:08.720 --> 02:11.190 something the fortunate can never know. 02:11.190 --> 02:11.200 02:11.200 --> 02:14.390 That God is worth more than comfort. 02:14.390 --> 02:14.400 02:14.400 --> 02:17.430 That faith means something. Can you say 02:17.430 --> 02:17.440 02:17.440 --> 02:19.190 that yet? Or are you still waiting for 02:19.190 --> 02:19.200 02:19.200 --> 02:21.840 the answer?