When Answers Don't Look Like We Expect

When Answers Don't Look Like We Expect

By Kateb Nuri-Alim Shunnar

How many times do we find ourselves pleading with the Creator, saying, “Please fix this, heal that, make everything better”? Yet, in the very next breath, we turn around and ignore the things we’ve been shown the things that could actually bring the change we’re begging for. It’s like asking for directions and then refusing to follow the map. That old saying, “My people perish for a lack of knowledge,” hits differently when you realize it’s not about knowledge being out of reach. It’s about us choosing to stay in the dark.

The truth? The Creator often lays it all out right in front of us. But we, being stubborn creatures of habit, still manage to look away. Why? Because following that truth usually asks us to step out of our comfort zones. It doesn’t always match how we feel or what we want, so we brush it aside. But here’s the thing truth doesn’t adjust to fit our preferences. It’s constant, whether we like it or not.

And then there are the messengers. You know, those people or situations that are supposed to deliver what we need. But they don’t always show up the way we pictured them, do they? Sometimes the person carrying the message doesn’t speak the way we like, or the situation seems too messy to possibly be the Creator’s work. That’s where the real challenge lies. Can we set our pride aside long enough to see the bigger picture? Or are we too stuck in our own expectations to recognize the help we’ve been praying for?

Growth isn’t about staying in the safe, familiar bubble we’ve built around ourselves. It’s about letting the Creator’s plans stretch us sometimes in ways that make us uncomfortable, sometimes in ways that downright hurt. It’s about letting go of our ego, our need to control every little thing, and trusting that the process is shaping us into something better.

It’s easy to stay stuck, to let our feelings run the show. But spiritual maturity calls for something deeper. It asks us to stop resisting, to listen with open hearts, and to embrace the wisdom being offered even when it doesn’t come packaged the way we imagined.

So, here’s the real question: Are we going to let our emotions run the show? Or are we ready to trust the Creator’s plan, even when it doesn’t make sense? That decision that leap of faith can be the difference between staying stuck where we are and stepping into the life we’ve been asking for.