Nor is it adequate in certain cases to blame God’s lack of response to our prayers on a higher will for us that, for now, requires a no.

No doubt what sometimes appears to us an evil is the very explosion necessary to blast us awake to the destructiveness of our habits. Sickness and tragedy are, unfortunately, at times the indispensable messengers that recall us to our life’s purpose.

Sometimes we do pray for the wrong thing or fail to recognize God’s answer because we are looking for the wrong thing, or fail to recognize God’s answer because we are looking for something else. But there are situations where God’s will seems so transparently evident that to assert that God says no is to portray God as a cosmic thug.

from The Powers That Be