If you live in Oklahoma, or you’ve watched the news at all, you know that we are in the midst of one heck of a drought. Add to our lack of rain some miserable, record-setting high temperatures, and you’ve got one nasty summer. There have been several times this season when a little round of thunderstorms would pop up and we’d get our hopes up for some rain, but I am not exaggerating when I say every.single.time they came our way, the storm would either split right in half and go around us, or it would dissipate just before it got here. It happened again as recently as Saturday, and I have to tell you, it’s getting really really old.

So last night, when I got a severe weather alert on my phone, you can imagine how excited I was to see this when I checked the radar:

There we were, right in the path of a line of storms longer than our entire county. There was no way it could miss us this time! I may have even smarted off on twitter, something along the lines of, “If this one misses us, you know God is punishing this town.” A joke, of course, because I was confident we were about to get some serious rain.

And then, wouldn’t you know it, as soon as that storm hit the county line it split right in half and we didn’t get a drop of rain. AGAIN. I couldn’t believe it! We were so disappointed. That is, until the reports of storm damage started popping up all over twitter and facebook. That very storm I had prayed wouldn’t miss us had taken the roof off of several homes, blown silos across pastures, taken down massive power poles, and completely destroyed a Sonic Drive-In in a neighboring town. So what if it came with rain? When the roof of your house is gone, rain just adds insult to injury as it soaks everything inside.

“Okay, God,” I thought, “You were right, I was wrong. We didn’t want that storm. Thanks for not giving me what I asked for!” Huh. Me, wrong. Who knew?

No sooner than I had uttered those words under my breath, (I didn’t need The Canadian knowing I was wrong, I have a reputation to keep!), there was a flash of lightning and the sound of rolling thunder. I checked the radar again, and there, right behind that raging storm, formed a new thunderstorm, heading right in our direction. And then it finally happened. The heavens opened up and it began to pour!

(Rain is very hard to capture with a cell phone camera, in case you were wondering.)

It rained, and it rained, and it rained some more. Gorgeous, soaking rain with very little wind to speak of. Nothing compared to what the first storm had caused elsewhere. It was just what we needed, without the damage we didn’t want. Yes, we were without power for a few hours, but I don’t think any of us cared as long as we could still smell the rain.

When the storm had passed, we stepped outside to enjoy the cooler air and were greeted with the ultimate reminder that His ways are best and He’s still taking care of us, just like He promised.

So the next time you pray for something, and it seems like the only answer you get is “no”, just wait a bit. There may be something better on the horizon, and even when it’s not exactly what you want, it will always be exactly what you need.