I heard the story of a man whose journey to atheism began with what he considered as unanswered prayer. The story has it that as a student at a teacher’s training institute, it was about time to be posted for teaching practice. There was a town he so much detested and prayed that he be not posted there. Unfortunately, that was the same place the authorities sent him to. He concluded that there is no God; otherwise, he should not have ended in the abhorrent place. He abandoned church and the service of God. It is not clear if he made peace with God before he died.

We must add that those who want to walk with God must remember that He is a loving God; as such He will never allow us to go where His grace cannot sustain. Trusting in God includes surrendering to His sovereignty.

The atheist got it wrong on several counts. His conclusion is as absurd as people saying there are no doctors because someone died! Imagine people boycott hospitals completely just because someone is not healed! That will be absurd indeed. Yet, this is how some believers behave sometimes. The man who turned his back on God because one request was not granted should have considered several other requests that scaled through. He should have remembered the many blessings of God that came to him unsolicited. Alternatively, he could have considered the fact that God may have had a special assignment or blessing for him in that location. The Bible states that those who would come to God must know that He is, and that He rewards those who come to Him in faith. We must add that those who want to walk with God must remember that He is a loving God; as such He will never allow us to go where His grace cannot sustain. Trusting in God includes surrendering to His sovereignty.