God Is Doing It Differently
Have you ever asked, “God, why aren’t You answering my prayers?” or wondered if He even heard you? This vulnerable yet powerful post from Dianna Hobbs reminds you that God is still working, friend.
Credit: Bevan Goldswain/Getty
I have cried rivers over my brain injury.
The devastation runs so deep, I don’t have words for it.
Losing parts of yourself—skills, memories, abilities—almost overnight cuts deeper than anything I’ve ever felt. It’s grief, sorrow, confusion, and heartache all tangled together.
For years since it happened, I’ve been seeking God’s face, desperate for answers.
Why did this happen? How could I possibly serve His kingdom like this? How do I minister to others when I feel so broken myself?
How do I move forward with a brain that doesn’t work the way it used to? How can I function with the limited capacity caused by damage to my prefrontal cortex and amygdala? With PTSD, anxiety, depression, mood swings—the whole mess?
How, God? Why?
There’s a darkness that settles in when you don’t have answers. When you can’t see any way out.
***
But at the end of March, during a prayer service, God gave me the very thing I’d been begging Him for: an answer.
If you follow my ministry newsletter, you might remember my May 9 email. I shared about something “unforgettable” God did that night.
A night that required the hardest yes I’ve ever given. I had to say yes to serving publicly while wrestling privately.
I didn’t feel ready to stand before God’s people. But He told me to go and preach. So I went.
After the sermon, where God showed up and ministered to us so powerfully, I opened the altar for prayer. As I laid hands on people and prophesied, a woman stepped forward, speaking softly with slurred words. I leaned in to listen.
“I used to be so embarrassed,” she said. She had a brain injury too. Shame had weighed her down for so long. But seeing me minister, brokenness and all, shattered that shame. It set her free.
That moment floored me.
Since that night, I’ve been meditating on just how good and strategic God really is. Even in the tears, even in the silence, even in the not knowing, He was already working my pain, my loss, my injury together for good.
For my good.
For someone else’s good.
For His glory.
We say we believe God can use our brokenness to break shackles and set others free, but it’s hard to see that truth when you’re the “broken” one, you know?
But since that beautiful moment at the altar, I understand more clearly why the tears I cried hoping for full restoration went unanswered. It’s not because God can’t or won’t heal me.
It’s because He’s doing it differently.
***
Just today, I came across an old Bible study lesson I taught in 2017, just one week after my husband and I were appointed Executive Pastor and First Lady of an inner-city church. The lesson was called, “When God Doesn’t Do It Our Way.”
The text came from 2 Kings 5, where Naaman, a commander in the Aramean army, was miraculously healed of leprosy. But before his healing came, he had to obey an unusual instruction: dip in the muddy Jordan River seven times. He was angry. He expected something more dramatic, more prestigious. He wanted Elisha to wave his hand and make the sickness disappear. But healing didn’t come through spectacle. It came through submission.
Naaman had to humble himself and follow God’s instructions as they were, not as he wanted them to be.
Looking back, I realize I’ve spent years wanting God to heal me in the way I imagined. Instantly, completely, dramatically. I wanted a miracle that erased my pain. But like Naaman, I had to learn that God’s ways are not always my ways.
And here’s something even deeper: the Jordan River, the very place Naaman almost rejected because it seemed too lowly for healing, is the same place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17).
The same muddy waters that Naaman didn’t think were good enough for a miracle were the very waters chosen by God for the anointing of the Savior of the world.
That’s no coincidence. It’s a divine pattern.
God consistently chooses the overlooked, the unexpected, the undesirable, the places and people others write off, so that when the breakthrough comes, there’s no mistaking it was Him.
***
Whenever I feel tempted to ask, “Can anything good come out of this?” I’m reminded of Nathanael’s words in John 1:46. When Philip told him they had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
It was a question rooted in cultural prejudice. Nazareth was small, unremarkable, even despised. No one expected anything great to come from there.
But Philip didn’t argue. He simply said, “Come and see.”
And when Nathanael did, he had a life-altering encounter with Jesus! That’s what God does. Over and over, He shows us that His grace and power aren’t confined to impressive places or perfect people.
He chooses the underestimated, the dismissed, the broken.
And in doing so, He reminds us that His glory doesn’t need a glamorous setting. It just needs a willing vessel.
I used to believe the only way God could get glory from my life was to fix what was broken. To restore me to what I used to be. But God is showing me that sometimes, He gets more glory by working through what I wish He would remove. My scars became someone else’s freedom. My struggle became someone else’s healing.
This isn’t the story I would’ve chosen, but it’s the one God has written. And He’s using every page for good.
If you’re asking today, “Can anything good come out of this?”
Look to Nazareth.
Look to the Jordan River.
Look to the cross.
Then look again at your own life. And come and see.
To help you grab hold to this word and say yes to God’s unconventional way of doing things, I’m stirring this word into your cup of inspiration:
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”
—1 Corinthians 1:27 (NKJV)
As you drink down the contents of your cup, know this: Even when God doesn’t do it your way, He’s still doing it the right way. His plans are higher, wiser, and far more powerful than anything you could imagine.
He’s not overlooking you. He’s doing things differently, orchestrating a greater testimony through the very things you thought disqualified you. Hold your ground. God is still working behind the scenes.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for being a God who doesn’t need perfect conditions or perfect people to perform powerful miracles. Help me trust You when things don’t make sense, and to believe that You are still working, especially in the unexpected places. When I feel overlooked or broken, remind me that You are the Master of using what the world calls weak to show Your strength. Use my life, even the hard parts, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you desire prayer, please allow me, along with my intercessory prayer team, to stand in faith with you for breakthrough. We would be so honored. We have seen God work over and over again. There is power in agreement. Click here to request prayer now.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!