Answered Prayers

Like many other parents, I began praying for my children when they were very young. I would pray that God would give me wisdom in raising them, that he would protect them and keep them healthy, and that they would be saved, among other things. When Katie began to drive, that prayer changed somewhat. I would ask for her protection while driving and that she would not do anything to harm anyone else with her vehicle. These prayers would go up daily, because the Bible tells us that if we pray with diligence, our prayers would be answered.

On July 20th, my Katie was killed in an automobile accident. The very thing that I had prayed to not happen, did. I had a very hard time dealing with this. Silently, I would think this to myself and never brought it up to anyone or even to God. Was I second guessing God and his will? Did God forsake me and allow the very thing that I dreaded happen to my baby in spite of my prayers? How was it that the words of the Bible had misled me. For a time, I had no answers. Then one night I was liying in bed when the realization came to me that My Heavenly Father knew what I was thinking and feeling whether I wanted to admit it or not. I bowed my head and closed my eyes and began explaining my feelings and asking God why. God let me finish my prayer and then began explaining to me what I should have known all along.

You see, over the last few years as I started walking closer to the Lord, I began praying for the things mentioned above. I always finished my prayers with the request that the Lord would use all of us (our family) for the glory of his kingdom. What greater gift could any Christian have than knowing that their life somehow Glorified God. My Father let me know that he had bestowed that priviledge upon my baby. During Katie's funeral an invitation was given. I had four people tell me at the graveside or the dinner afterwards that they received Christ that day. I have also had many people come to me and say how touched they have been by Buggs and the events around our tragedy. Our Lord and Savior has a plan and if we will just trust him, he will indeed hear our prayers.

The most amazing thing about this story is how God shows us his love for us over and over. While I was questioning in my mind why he let this happen, God in return gave me a very compassionate answer. He does not have to okay his plan with me. He does not have to give me reasons for the question, "why." He could have turned away from me for not trusting in him, but instead he rewarded me the way only our loving, compassionate father would. I believe he did this because he knows the pain of a father that has lost a child. As I have stated before he gave Jesus up at Calvary for our sins so he knows how I feel. I am going to close with this: God loves us very much and while we may not understand his plan, if we just trust in him, he will not give us any more than we can handle here on earth. He will also reward us when we leave this earth.

Mike "Buckett" Burkett