Our pastor made a great statement Sunday morning. He was talking about prayer and how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, praying with groans too deep for words. At times when we don’t know how to pray due to extreme circumstances or difficult decisions or ignorance of God’s will, the Spirit knows the mind of the Lord and prays for us accordingly. That’s a comforting thought.

But the statement that got me thinking was when he said, “We pray for our deliverance, but He has our development in mind.”

The other day I mentioned that it’s not about publishing or whatever goal we might have in mind. The path the Lord has chosen for each of us is meant to lead us to be more like Jesus. To know Him should be our highest goal.

But part of that knowing comes from learning life’s tough lessons. We suffer trials, whether they be consequences for our actions, or things thrust on us through normal life circumstances, or tragedies beyond our control – normally, we pray for the Lord’s deliverance from such things. Conflict is only pleasant in fiction, not real life, so when we’re faced with it, we do whatever we can to get out of it.

Unfortunately, God doesn’t always deliver us from such things – or if He does, He may take a while to do so. He allows the trial for our good, for our development, because He is forming us into the image of His Son. Hard as that may be, it’s what He desires for every Christian. And God uses every circumstance toward that end – for our good.

It’s hard to think of any trial as a good thing. Some people have gone through such tragedies it seems unthinkable that any good could come of them. And during such trials, it is not wrong to pray for our deliverance.

But while we await an answer to our prayers for deliverance, perhaps it would help to also ask what the Lord would have us learn from the experience. Ask Him to develop our character into His likeness, and in so doing, get to know Him better. In eternity, our development will matter more to us than any earthly deliverance.