Answers to our Tefillos

We are now living in very difficult times. We all need personal yeshuos and refuos and it’s hard when we daven so hard and don’t see an answer.
First of all, we need to keep reminding ourselves who is in charge. No matter what situation we are in, we must keep remembering that no matter what, Hashem is in charge, He is running the show, He knows what is best for us and He can do anything at any time!! He can perform miracles - right in front of our eyes!
Just like He is the one who makes a person sick, He is the only one who can heal, not the doctors or anyone in the hospitals - only Hashem! He is the one who brings about every single shidduch, every single yeshuah and He runs the world!! And never underestimate the power of our tefillos.

Sometimes we daven for something and we don't see immediate results. In fact, this is not something that happens sometimes, it happens all the time! We daven and daven and beg and cry and we say to Hashem, "why?" or "when will you finally answer my tefillos?”
We expect that when we daven for something, since our tefillos are so powerful and pierce the heavens, we should get answered right away!
But this doesn't happen. It doesn't work that way.
R' Shimshon Pincus gives an amazing, down-to-earth mashal to explain this.
After you eat something very fattening, do you run to the mirror and say, "Ohmygosh! I gained weight!!"??
No! It doesn't work that way! It takes time!!!
Just like the second you eat, you will not see the extra pounds showing up when you look at your reflection in the mirror, you will not see immediate results as soon as you are done davening for someone or something - it takes time!!

When you daven for someone, your tefillah never goes to waste - if you don't see an answer, many times it's just that Hashem is saving the tefillah for another time when you least expect it, or didn't even deserve it, or didn't even daven for something - and then the yeshuah just "comes" and you wonder - "what did I do to deserve that?" It's because Hashem took out the tefillos that you davened that long time ago and uses it for a time when you need it most!!

Here’s a story I know personally that shows this point. When I was in elementary school, a girl in my grade had a family member that got sick with cancer. Everyone davened so hard for this girl’s sister. She was still young (just 19 years old) and had a whole life ahead of her. The family, the school, everyone was davening. And then…she passed away. It was so sad!

A few years later, Chaya Sara was walking with this girl’s sister (let’s name her Rivka, just for the story) and as they were crossing the street, a car turned in and hit Rivka. Her body went flying up and then fell down on the street with a thud. It was a very scary moment. Chaya Sara was totally fine, the car didn’t touch her, but the girl she was walking with was lying on the ground. Hatzalah was called and Rivka was brought to the hospital.

When her parents heard that their daughter was in a car accident, they thought, “We cannot lose another one!! Hashem, how much more do you think we can handle?! Please, please, do something to save us from any more pain!!”

Well, there was a real miracle. Rivka was brought to the emergency room and emerged without a scratch! She was totally fine!

Ask Chaya Sara if you want to know if this story really happened! She was there, walking with this girl when the accident happened!

So you see that sometimes, we may not see an answer to our tefillos right away, but Hashem saves those tefillos for when we least expect it and for when we need it most! The tefillos that everyone davened for Rivka’s sister were saved for her and she experienced a miracle!!

Let’s keep reminding ourselves that Hashem can do anything to anyone at anytime - He holds the power to heal, bring simcha and joy into our lives and He gives each person the strength they need to go thru life’s many difficult challenges.