Recently I prayed for God to meet a need. As far as I can tell, that need was not met. What do we do when the answers do not come as expected? Well, a quote from John Newton has been helpful for me. Maybe it will be helpful for you.
Newton writes, ‘ All shall work together for good; everything is needful that He sends; nothing can be needful that He withholds.’
Newtown’s overall point is about God’s sovereign work to bring about the ultimate good of His children.
It is that last phrase in Newton’s quote, ‘nothing can be needful that He withholds‘ that spoke to my heart. From my vantage point, my request was a need. I rest in knowing that if it was necessary for my need to be met in the way I was asking, He would not have withheld it. Not an easy truth but a comforting one.
The God who sent ravens to feed Elijah knows how to care for His own, and ‘nothing can be needful that He withholds.’
A Life Worth Living 
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