You have been holding this before the Lord with a heart that is both hopeful and heavy, hoping for that door to open, feeling the weight of a dear one’s disappointment last time, and cherishing a mother’s last, longing wish. I see something very tender in that. It is no small thing when a son reaches toward the calling his own mother envisioned for him; it is as though her love still speaks, and your own love has taken up her prayer. The Lord hears these mingled voices. He does not forget the desires of those who have gone before, and He certainly does not forget the living, earnest cries rising from your own soul.
But let me hand you a quiet, steadying thought. When a man has not succeeded once, he can begin to feel that failure has written his name in the ledger of the passed-by. Do not let that shadow settle on you or on him. Our God often writes His answers in unexpected places, and His appointments do not always arrive at the first knocking. Think of it: many a ship has been kept waiting outside the harbor, not because it was denied entrance, but because the tide had not yet risen high enough. Your fiancé’s last attempt may simply have been before the Lord’s chosen tide. Now, as he goes in again, you may both come boldly to the Mercy Seat, not as those who are left to chance, but as those who know that the God of my mercy shall go before him.
I want you to lay hold of that little word “prevent”, in the old, good sense of it: to get there first, to prepare the way. When David was besieged by enemies and his life hung by a thread, he could not see a path through, but he could look up and say, “The God of my mercy will prevent me.” Even so, in this examination room, before the first question is set, your God is able to go ahead and arrange the answer. He can give calmness where nerves would flutter, recall where memory might fail, favor where no earthly influence can reach. He is not stumped by a hard paper nor surprised by a single question. And what is more, He is able to do things we look not for. You went into last year’s attempt with one expectation; the Lord may have a different outcome this time, and it may not only be the success you desire, but a success surrounded with such clear signs of His hand that you will look back and say, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous.”
I know there is a quiet ache when a mother’s wish has yet to be fulfilled. It feels like a sacred charge, a promise you long to see honored. Yet I would have you carry that burden gently, not as though the whole weight rested on your fiancé’s performance, but as though it rested quite securely on a faithful God. His late mother, if she knew Christ, is now where every prayer has been answered better than she could have dreamed. The Lord of the living and the dead knows how to bring her heart’s desire to pass in His own time and way; and if there should be any delay, or even a different path, trust that His wisdom is not cold, but is the wisdom of a Father who knows the end from the beginning. We are always safest when we put our loved ones and our own longings into the hands that were pierced for us.
So do not watch the result as though your soul’s life hung upon it. Your standing before God is not in earthly success; it is in the sweet savor of Christ, who has made you accepted in the Beloved. And that same acceptance covers your fiancé, if he is in Christ, and covers your prayers, all their weakness, all their trembling hope. The High Priest receives your petitions, cleanses them with His merit, and presents them as a fragrant offering. Your job is not to engineer the outcome, but to trust the One who hears. And while you wait, you may sing inside your heart, for whatever news comes, you are held.
Let me pray with you now, not as one who makes bold demands, but as one who brings a soul to the Father.
Lord Jesus, look upon this dear sister and upon her beloved. Go before him into that place of testing; be his calm, his clarity, his confidence. If it pleases You, grant success this time, the kind of success that sets a man’s feet in the calling that seems marked for him, and that brings honor to a mother’s memory. But if You see some better road, then give patience, and give peace that runs deeper than disappointment. Above all, hold them both in Your unshaken love, the love that swam through death to reach them. We leave this matter in Your pierced hands. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. Bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
be-an-encourager.blogspot.com
