What it Means to Ask for Something

A few weeks before the wedding at our farm, the pond was covered with algae. It was not the picture-perfect backdrop for wedding photos, that’s for sure. Ryan tried every algae- killing method under the sun. He tried natural methods, chemicals, scoops, nets, and screens. Nothing worked to move that algae. So, we prayed diligently and asked God to send a strong wind that would blow the algae to one side of the pond, where we planned to restrain it with a 50-foot boom. The day before the wedding, we had agreed that should the wind come, Ryan would come home, jump in the canoe, and row the boom across the pond to hold the algae back.

Sure enough, Ryan was at work when a mighty – I mean mighty – wind blew in. I’ve never seen anything like it. Viv and I went out on the deck and just marveled as the trees bowed low and the wheat fields danced. On the pond, the algae was literally flying across the surface of the water and gathering to one side. I called Ryan, “It’s here! The wind is blowing and the algae is moving!” But he was in an important meeting. Besides, on his side of town, the storm was moving through with thunder and lightening. In my spirit, I knew this was God moving, but I lost courage. We agreed that it wasn’t wise for Ryan to come home right then, since the lightening would head towards our house next.  We smiled and agreed that because God had done it once, He could sure do it again by tomorrow afternoon!

The lightening never came to our farm.

The wind died down and the algae floated back across the pond, covering the expanse.

God didn’t send a second wind.

The next day, the pond was covered with algae. The wedding pictures record a painful lesson about what it means to ask our Father in Heaven for something without receiving it.

When we ask God for something and He grants our request, we must receive His generosity even if it is inconvenient. Ever since, I’ve tried to keep my eyes open for ways in which God’s mighty wind is blowing across my life, and I’m fixin’ to jump into it regardless of my preconceived notions or my previous commitments. I’m going with Him.