Matthew 17:22-27

Matthew 17:22-27 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  God provides.
  We don't always quite understand how God works.  Sometimes God works exactly like we expect or exactly like we pray.  The image in our head is exactly the way it works out.
  Other times... well, at other times God does the unexpected.  God saves the people by dying on a cross.  God pays the tax by having a disciple discover some money in the mouth of a fish.  God does some unexpected things.
  So when you pray, be careful not to hold too tightly onto an image of what an answer to that prayer looks like.  God may do the unexpected.  We spend a lot of time praying for healing, but not all healing is physical.  It's a hard lesson to learn to trust God and see the bigger picture, especially when we are limited by time and space in ways that God is not.  God promises that our futures are safe in God's hands, so let us pray and trust, trust and pray.