Ask and it will be given to you…

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

Have you ever asked God for something and got an opposite response than what you wanted? I have.

When I first met my husband, Matt, he shared with me that he had an incurable genetic disease called Usher’s Syndrome (US). This condition causes both blindness and deafness. The disease had already caused him to become totally blind. And although some of his hearing still remains, he struggles with speech recognition. Hearing aids can help,  but  since the hearing aids he has are outdated and obsolete,  he could no longer use them. I began to pray that we could find some new hearing aids that would help him to better understand speech and the world around him.

Back in 2022, Matt went to a hearing specialist who said that he certainly would benefit from new hearing aids. After his initial appointment, however, the communication between that agency and us broke down; and, so, we were never able to obtain the hearing aids.

After that, Matt and I put the experience behind us and continued to live life. going about our daily adventures. Over time, I noticed, though, that his hearing was getting worse. I would often have to repeat myself or rephrase things to get my point across.

In January of 2024, Matt was examined by another Audiologist who confirmed my suspicions that he had indeed lost more hearing. The doctor said that Matt would benefit from new hearing aids because the technology had improved greatly since his last pair. She was reasonably certain that his insurance would cover the cost for them particularly because he was blind and needed them to improve his quality of life. We felt hopeful.  She then fitted Matt with a pair of sample hearing aids to use until his new ones arrived. She told us to be patient because it would take him a while to get use to them. Even though he could not hear perfectly with the hearing aids, I could tell a difference. For example, a few weeks later, Matt seem to hear me much better in the grocery store than he did in our previous shopping trips without his hearing aids.

Unfortunately, after arriving home from that shopping trip, we got a call from the hearing doctor’s office with some very disappointing news. Matt’s insurance would not cover the cost of his hearing aids. After we hung up from hearing this news, the first words out of Matt’s mouth were, “I’ll lift my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away,” which are lyrics from one of his favorite songs from Castings Crowns: “I Will Praise You in This Storm.”  For me, it seemed like the “Yes” to my prayer turned into a “No.” I was perplexed. Nevertheless, I held onto Matthew 7:7 and continued to pray that a door might open. I also asked some of my fellow believers to pray for us about this matter.

Matt and I spent the next serval days searching for programs that might help us, but no doors opened for us. During that time, as I prayed, I felt like God was telling me to wait.

About a week later, Matt received an email from his doctor’s office telling him that they had nominated him as a candidate in a program that offers hearing aids for people in need. We felt hopeful again and believed that a door was beginning to open.

Several weeks later, on my birthday, we received exciting news from the doctor’s office. Matt had selected to receive a new pair of hearing aids. He obtained his new hearing aids a few weeks later and is making turn tremendous progress.

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I learned a very important lesson about prayer during my husband’s hearing -aid journey. Sometimes we might think that Jesus is saying “No” to our prayer when he might be actually saying “Wait.”

Butterflies, remember to keep praying when times are tough. God hears you, and he will answer you. Be patient.