Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, N.K.J.V.)

One day a little girl asked her father for a quarter. The father tried to oblige her but all he had at that moment was a $20 bill. So, he said, “Honey, I don’t have a quarter, but I’m going to do you better than that. I’m going to give you this $20 bill.” Then he handed her the bill. He thought that would thrill the child, but it didn’t. Instead, she said, “No, Daddy, I asked you for a quarter.”

The father chuckled a bit and said, “Honey, you don’t understand. What I just gave you is a whole bunch of quarters put together.” By now, though, the little girl was starting to get upset. She said, “Daddy, all I’m asking you for is a quarter, and you won’t even give me that. I thought you loved me.” The father answered, “I do love you. That’s why I just gave you $20.” But the girl still wasn’t impressed. She said again, “If you loved me, you would give me a quarter.”

At this point the father decided that it was time for an arithmetic lesson. He said, “Honey, let me explain this to you. There are four quarters in every dollar, and I just gave you a $20 bill. That means that I just gave you 80 quarters.” Try as he might, though, he just couldn’t make the child understand. Finally, she started crying, pitched a fit, and ran into her bedroom to get away from him.

You say, “That dumb little girl. She certainly didn’t know what was best for her.” You’re right, she didn’t. But tell me, Christian, do you always know what’s best for you? How many times have you asked your heavenly Father for something, only to get upset when He sent you a replacement product that you couldn’t understand was exceedingly abundantly better than what you asked Him for?

Try to keep this in mind the next time God sends you something different than you requested. The fact that you can’t see His answer for what it is doesn’t mean that it isn’t a veritable goldmine for you. Never forget that He loves you enough to give you more than you request from Him. That’s why He feels free to send substitute answers when they fit better. Just because His answer is different doesn’t mean that it’s worse.