Central Florida Girl Found: Why did God say yes?

It is not all that often that we good news with missing children. One of the most terrifying thoughts as a parent is that your child would go missing. I heard part of an interview with the person who found her and it appears that he is a Christian.
Link to story on local news website

Did God answer his prayers and the prayers of others and allow Nadia to be found alive and safe? Yes, I think so.
But what about all the prayers for the miners and other lost children and other situations that did not result in a safe return. Did God answer those prayers? Yes, I think so. The problem is that in those situations is appears that God answered no.

So why does God sometimes say no? Wouldn't it God to answer yes to every prayer for safety and life preservation? When someone is struggling and their entire life is crumbling around them because someone they care for dearly is in peril and may never return, shouldn't God answer yes to the prayer and return them safe? I want to say that prayers for safety and to ease suffering are "no brainers." Of course God should answer yes. Why not?

Then I think back on a situation I had with my daughter. She had a splinter in her hand--it hurt. She wanted me to make the pain stop and I told her how I could get the splinter out, but it would hurt more for a little while, as I would have to scrape it out. It was best for her to let me get the splinter out. She did not want to experience the additional pain of removing the splinter and was prepared to live with the "lesser" pain of a splinter rather than the "greater" pain of removing the splinter.

I now had a dilemma on my hands. I love my daughter and don't want her to be in pain at all. I also know that  allowing the splinter to remain would likely cause more pain in the long run than the shorter experience of more intense pain of removal. What does a daddy do? I could answer her request and leave it alone. I could giver her cuddles and ice cream to make her not think about the pain. That might make her forget about the pain, but the splinter would remain. Eventually, if my hunch was right, the splinter would get infected and hurt even more.

I did what I thought I must. Although she did not want me to remove the splinter, I comforted her, reassured her, and eventually had to assert my authority and coerce her to allow me to remove the splinter. She was not happy about that. She was mad because daddy "hurt" her by taking the splinter out. She didn't like that I did that. Maybe she didn't trust me as much because I answered her request and need differently than she wanted.

In this case, I knew that it would be better for her in the long run to take the splinter out at that time and not to wait. She didn't know that  and she didn't like it, but it was best. I acted against what she wanted and what she asked for because I judged it better than her requests.

I am simply a man who tires to be a good father. I don't know everything. I can't do everything. But if a father can know what is better for his children than what they ask for, how much more should we be willing to defer to God's judgement over our own. My daughter is much closer to my level of intelligence and knowledge than any human is to God's knowledge and intelligence. Is it unreasonable to believe that I might not understand why God answers a prayer with a no, when I can understand why I might answer a request from my daughter with a no?

By the way, I comforted her after the pain of the "splinter removal" and may have even put ice cream into that equation. God will also comfort us after a painful experience that he chooses to let us go through. But we don't like to be told no.

In the case of Nadia, I am glad that God chose to answer yes. I may not like it, but I hope I can accept when God chooses to answer no.