Day 16, “When Everyone Else Gets Their Miracle,” speaks to the pain of watching other people receive answered prayers while you are still waiting for your own. Using Matthew 11:6 and the story of John the Baptist, the episode explores how easy it is to feel overlooked, less favored, or even offended by God when He seems to be moving in everyone else’s life but yours. The episode reminds listeners that it is possible to be genuinely happy for someone else and still grieve what you are waiting for yourself. Those mixed emotions are normal and do not mean you lack faith. The encouragement is to remember that unanswered prayer does not mean God loves you less, favors others more, or has forgotten you. Even when His plan is hard to understand, you are still deeply loved, still blessed, and still invited to keep trusting and asking Him for what you need. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Hope in the Waiting - Day 16- When Everyone Else Gets Their Miracle
Matthew 11:6 “And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”
This is a tiny sentence in a great big bible. You may have heard it many times before and not even noticed it because it is so small. Also, you may have heard it and not understood what it meant. This has definitely happened to me before. I have read something, and for one reason or another I did not understand what it meant. Sometimes I will look at the footnotes and will get a better understanding of what the statement meant. To be honest, I am not sure if I heard this verse before or not. I know that I definitely did not understand what it meant or take any notice of it. That is, until I read about it in that book I keep talking about, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You really must read that book; it is so good! Anyway, as soon as I heard about what this verse meant, I knew I wanted to share it with people because I had never thought of it before, and I know it is something that we can all do. In the book, Mark talks about this couple he knows who are prayer warriors or prayer giants. You know the kind of people I am talking about, right? The people who seem to have a direct line to God. All of their prayers seem to get answered. My mom and dad are prayer warriors. They have had so many answered prayers and witnessed numerous miracles. If you know my parents, they are the first people you call when you are in need of prayers.
Mark talked about how the couple’s prayers for others were often answered; however, prayers for their own lives went unanswered. He said they took a leap of faith and went into the world of filmmaking, and they lost their life savings because the financial backing promised to them never came through. They lost their home in a fire. They lost three out of four parents in four years. And a rare genetic condition has taken a
toll physically, emotionally, and financially. It seemed like God was answering everyone else’s prayers, except their own. Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt like God was answering the prayers of everyone around you, but yours were going unheard for some reason? This couple said there had been moments when they have been tempted to throw in the towel, but the promise above has kept them
going. “And Blessed is he who takes no offense to me.” Here is the context of that promise, as Mark Batterson explains it in his book The Circle Maker: Jesus is doing miracles right and left. He is healing diseases, driving out demons, and restoring sight to the blind, but John the Baptist misses the miracle train. It seems like Jesus is rescuing everybody except His most faithful follower, who is in prison. And John is his cousin, nonetheless. It seems like Jesus could have, and maybe should have, organized a rescue operation and busted him out before he was beheaded. Instead, He sent a message via John's disciples. He tells them to tell John about all the miracles He is doing, and then He asks them to relay this promise: "Blessed is the
one who is not offended by me.”
I had never thought of this before. I had never thought about how John the Baptist might have felt seeing his cousin performing miracles all around him and yet he was stuck in jail. I wonder if he did feel offended? My first instinct is to say that he didn’t because he seemed like he was so close to God, and I think we tend to put anyone who we think is that close to God on a pedestal. We think that because they were
devoted to God that they have it all together and that following God and His ways comes easy to them. When I start to think like this, I need to remind myself that they are human and we all struggle with our thoughts and actions. I don’t know if John the Baptist felt offended by Christ or not. I do know that this is a completely normal human response. If you are feeling offended because God is answering the prayers of all those around you and not yours, please know that this is completely normal and understandable. We can be happy for others and sad for ourselves at the same time. I know I may keep mentioning that you can feel two things at the same time, but that is because I keep talking to so many people who are feeling guilty for being upset about something because they should be feeling grateful. Or, they feel guilty because they should be feeling happy that their friend just got pregnant, but they feel sad that they have not gotten pregnant yet. You don’t have to feel guilty about your feelings. It is ok to have two competing emotions at the same time. It is not just ok, it is completely normal. I wanted to share this verse because I know some people who have been feeling offended by God lately. They are wondering why everyone else seems to be more favored or more deserving. If this is you, I hope you take comfort in this passage. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” God does not favor others more than you. God is a mystery. We don’t know why He does what He does. We know He has a plan for our lives, and we also know He is not super forthcoming with what that plan is. He is more of a “reveal one step at a time” God. One thing we know for sure is that He keeps His promises. So, if God is not answering your prayers, it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care for you as much as others. You know Jesus had to have cared for His cousin. You know God had to have been proud of His faithful servant John, who lived in the woods and baptized people and preached repentance. And yet, John the Baptist was beheaded. God loves you! He loves each one of His children equally and more than we could ever imagine. If your prayers aren’t being answered, I know it is hard. I know it is hard to see others receive their miracles while you are still waiting. I know it may feel like you are never going to receive your answers. Please don’t give up asking. Please don’t give up expecting them to be answered. Try to rely on this promise that you are Blessed. My hope is this shift in perspective will help you not throw in the towel. Instead of thinking God must not like you or favor you because your prayers aren’t being answered, you can know that you are blessed. You can know that you are in good company.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us not to be offended by you. We thank you for all the miracles you're doing in the world today and all the prayers that you have answered. Lord, we don't know why our prayers may be going unanswered, and that is really difficult for us. Lord, we ask that you help us with this. If our prayers haven't been answered yet, we pray that you give us the perseverance to keep asking and not to give up. We ask that you give us wisdom and clarity if you want us to stop asking for something. As with Paul, when he asked for you to heal the thorn in his side and you told him your grace was sufficient for him. If we are asking for something that we don't need or you don't want us to have, please take that desire from us. Lord, we are so thankful for all you are doing in the world today. Please help us to be happy for others when you answer their prayers. Please help us to not be offended by this and to know in the depths of our hearts that you love us and you have a wonderful plan for our lives. Lord, we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “The angels watch over you, lest you stumble and fall. Yes. God wants us to know that we are surrounded and cared for by his angels.”