Prayers Are Answered in the Best Way

A couple of weeks ago, we need a last-minute substitute for one of our Primary classes, and the easiest solution was to have me teach, since it was my month to be the Presidency "rover." Well, I pulled up the lesson online and saw that it was titled "Prayers Are Answered in the Best Way" and the associated scripture story is about John the Baptist--or rather, how Zacharias and Elisabeth had wanted children and weren't blessed with them until they were pretty far past child-bearing age. My first reaction was, "Are You kidding me?" As I've previously mentioned, my husband and I have been struggling with infertility, and while I admit the story of Hannah is comforting, the thought of waiting until I'm Elisabeth's age to have children is not. (I guess I don't for sure know Hannah's age, but I don't remember her being past normal child-bearing years, so I assumed she was much younger than Elisabeth when her prayer was answered.) There were other stories to share as well--one where the prayer was answered with an immediate yes, one with a no--and then Elisabeth and Zacharias with a "wait until the time is right." So, it took some extra effort on my part to be able to teach this lesson, since it was touching on a matter so close to my heart, but as I was teaching the children about the different types of answers we can get, I knew that the Lord was trying to teach me as well and to remind me that He truly answers in the way that is best...even when we can't understand why that's the best answer. While I do sometimes struggle to remember that, what I can say is that the Lord wants to help and sustain us. I don't think it was just a coincidence that I ended up teaching this particular lesson; I think He knew I needed a reminder that He knows what He's doing and that if I just hold on, things will work out how they should. I'm still hoping and praying hard that children will come sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, I'm grateful for a God who knows what our struggles are and sends us the faith-boosting messages that we need to carry on.