After Hope, God

It would seem that God delights in answering prayers after the last human hope is gone. I come across this fairly often in ministry. An example: a student failed to obtain a bursary when she needed it -- it was turned down in stages until the final meeting said a final no. Then the bursary came through, and she was able to embark on an important training course. Yet this is what the Bible teaches us to expect, bearing in mind that whatever God does is a grace, and in this sense not to be expected: "How you have helped him who has no power" (Job 26:2).