She always had to be on guard for the motion sickness that was sure to come. Whether it was air, land, or sea, it could hit at any given moment. And more often than not when flying, it would hit hard. Now, she and her husband were flying to meet up with us for a few days. How I hoped she wouldn’t be sick, but the chances were very slim and I knew it.

So I made all the preparations. Calling the hotel, I got permission for a noon check in so she could sleep it off. We also planned what we could fill the rest of our day with so we could leave her be and she could rest in quiet. 

But while doing all this, I prayed. I prayed every time I thought of it. I prayed when they were heading to the airport. I prayed many times mid flight. But most of all, almost every breath was a prayer as I watched them descend on my flight radar. “Please God. Please. Don’t let her be sick. Please hold her stomach even as I am holding her in my prayers. Please.”

And while something in me hardly dared hope, there was also something inside me telling me that God had this. It wasn’t a new thought. I had already been thinking all week of our time together and the thought of God having it had come to me every time. It seemed I was learning a whole new level of trust and I felt empowered somehow with it all.

Then—they were there. Coming through the door at the airport and the first thing I did was look into her face, searching for any signs of sickness. Her smile looked genuine. Her face looked normal. Was she truly not sick? Wrapping my arms around her I asked her how she was feeling. “Good!” Came the reply. 

I pulled back and looked at her. “Really? You’re not sick? You don’t even feel a bit hungover?”

“No, I feel just perfectly normal!” Say what? I could hardly hold back my laugh—could hardly hold back my cry at the same time. I wanted to leap for joy. I wanted to tell all the people surrounding me that my friend actually wasn’t sick! I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. And most of all, I wanted to thank God over and over again.

When we asked about lunch and she indeed wanted lunch, my whole insides wanted to flip. God had answered my prayers! He really had! It wasn’t that I thought He wouldn’t. I had had the feeling that He had it. But I knew life wasn’t perfect and the idea that God had truly held her stomach while I held her in my prayers made my heart fairly burst.

And I wondered. Why are we as humans so astounded when God answers our prayers in such a big way? Days later as we traveled home, tears ran down my face at the thought of God truly doing this for me. My thoughts went back to that day and even then, my heart still beat faster at the thought of God’s great care of us.

Sometimes my faith can be so small and I wonder if He’ll really do something for me. Other days, my faith is so big that it’s almost unreasonable to the human mind. But today this answer to prayer reminds me of what a great big God we serve and all this time while He’s teaching me about trusting Him, I’m learning more of Him.

He stands there at his well, and I hand Him my cup that is needing to be filled. He, in turn, hands me a bucket. His eyes are shining and I feel mine shining too. And as I see all of his goodness, I realize He never runs dry. While I think in mere cups, He thinks in buckets. As I open my heart to trusting Him even more, I receive a never ending supply. I laugh with joy and my heart trembles as my entire being cries out, “God’s got this. He really really does.”