Answered Prayers Are Hard To Handle Sometimes

Have you ever prayed real hard for something?  Of course you have.  We all have, true? We really wanted something, and it wasn’t for our own greedy selfish purposes.  We wanted a blessing for someone else as well as ourselves, so we made sure we prayed as God commands us.  We went to the book of John and reread what Jesus told us about prayer, just so we would get it right. 

Then we got on our knees, or in our prayer closet, or our spiritual space wherever it is, and we called out to the Lord.  We blessed the name of God.  We lifted up our praises to Him.  We honored the Lord and we prayed our prayer as often as it touched our hearts to do so.  We trusted that He heard us and we waited patiently for the answer as we went on about our daily lives. 

Then He answered us and we knew it!

Yet we were slightly perplexed.

My friends, this is what has happened to me.  It all started with the economy.  Folks, I work in a job industry that is dependent to a large extent on the economy.  We supply all types of quality seafood to all the top quality restaurants in the SF Bay Area.  If people are feeling confident about eating out at high end restaurants, then all is well.  If they aren’t, then it gets shaky.  People had stopped feeling that confidence, and had stopped spending their money somewhat in this industry.  But the industry is a bit resilient, and my boss is so extremely cool!  The kind of boss that would take cuts in his business to keep all the workers employed.  The kind of boss that’s right there besides us, working in the fields.  The kind of boss that’s indistinguishable from the workers unless he’s pointed out as the boss. 

So we rode on the wave of lessening sales.  We workers were looking back and forth at each other as we sat there with less work to do, because fewer and fewer restaurants were calling to place orders.  We wondered how long the boss would be able to carry us like that without having to drop the ax on somebody soon.  And we wondered and wondered.

So I got busy praying and entreating the Lord for the boss and his business.  I entreated the Lord for our jobs.  I prayed to the Lord to bless the business and the owner, who was so deserving because he was so kind and fair to us all.  I prayed regularly for my boss.

Then the Lord answered.

Our seafood company merged with a quality meat company.  Two excellent small businesses, ours with one location and theirs with four locations!  God really answers prayers in a big and completely unexpected way!!  So what could be better than that?

When it rains, it really pours, big time.

So now the meat company’s customers have found out that they have access to quality seafood and lots of it!   In all four of their locations, they all are ordering off the hook.  Just the initial orders sent us into a frenzy of trying to fill the orders.  It’s like if Oprah decided to mention your company on her show and everybody started inundating you with orders!  Wait until the dust really settles and they REALLY see what they have access to! 

I used to struggle to get 6 work hours a night, and had been working between 30 and 33 hours a week, stretching it real hard.  Now I’m working ten hours a day easy.  I could work 12 if I wanted to, and if it was legal.  I can barely get a lunch break!  I’m right at the brink of being overwhelmed!  We all are looking at each other like, “What on Earth?” as we rush past each other trying to get the work done!  We’re eating our veggies, peanut butter, bananas, power drinks and power bars, and drinking TONS AND TONS of weak coffee, trying to not to sink in all the business, and it’s only been three weeks!!!  Keeping our heads above water–making a way if we can!!

Ummm, God….Not that I’m ungrateful or anything like that, but ummmm…..

Bless Him Always!