I waited the whole weekend for the call that never came.

My thoughts were attached to my desire. Each time I began to consider something else, they snapped back to that one focus. Finally, I told God He had the right to give and to withhold in my life. From that moment, it didn’t matter what the answer was. I was content to know that my Friend was going to do the best by me!

Hannah had prayed a long time for a baby. To be a married woman in Israel without a child was to be an object of pity. For whatever reason, God had waited to grant her request.

Now her heart was bursting with joy and her praises to God spilled out. But notice what her rejoicing was about: not for her little son, but for God’s salvation!

Perhaps in the waiting time she learned that, in reality, God is the gift. There is Someone bigger than her longing, whose timing is impeccable and whose answer is the best.

This is why we can praise God regardless of whether we receive what we want.

Joy comes not from a vending-machine relationship, but from a friendship with the One who sees the end from the beginning and who will do the right thing at the right time. His answer is a gift from Himself, and our joy.