In my life I have found that prayer is answered in so many varied ways, but always in the way that heals and is most understandable at the moment help is needed, leaving me with a largess of peace and a deepness of comfort.
A number of years ago, I was very concerned about our eldest daughter, who was floundering in a destructive relationship with a young man in a different state far from us. At the time, she was not even talking to us. During the years she was in this relationship, I vacillated between despair and hope whenever I thought of her, which was often. Of course, I was praying earnestly as well, and I’d had moments of peace, but not a lasting trust that all was well.
As I was walking along the shore one day, I suddenly could not walk a step farther, but felt a divine, irresistible force causing me to look out at the vast expanse of the ocean. I felt instructed, almost as if a great teacher were there with me, that the ocean was a symbol of God’s eternal, limitless nature. As I pondered the scene, I began to see that I also was a distinct, individual reflection of God, in harmony with Him and all of creation. I deeply wanted to hold on to that moment for eternity; it was so beautiful and cleansing.
