Everything We "Knee'd"

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
      How unsearchable his judgments,
      and his paths beyond tracing out! - Romans 11:33

I saw an interesting church sign the other day.  It said, "God will provide everything for which you have 'knee'd.'"  I love puns and word play.  I even like the ones most people groan at, but this play on words is not a "groaner," but a "thinker."  It has a deep double meaning.

The Bible tells us God will provide for all our needs.  We are also told that if we pray, we will get what we pray for.  But we have all seen people go without life's basic necessities and we have also prayed for things that we did not get.  I think the combination that the church sign hinted at may hold much of the answer.  St. James tells us that "we do not have, because we do not ask." So if we find ourselves in need, instead of wringing our hands, we should pray.  But what if we pray and do not receive?  Perhaps God doesn't see our "need" the same way we do. 

There are times when going without is what is needed in our lives.  Sometimes the best thing for us is to lose a job that doesn't make the most of our gifts.  Sometimes the best thing for us is to lose some of the material things that have turned our hearts away from God.  Sometimes hunger is necessary to drive us into productive action.

So we have to have "knee'd" it and we have to truly "need" it for God to respond.  And when he doesn't, perhaps he is supplying a need we didn't know we had, by not supplying a need we thought we had.  We have to let God be God and know that He is all-knowing.  When we do, we can embrace our stuggles as opportunities to become more Christ-like.  As a little boy, Kevin would tell me, "I NEED a cookie now!"  But I knew he needed a meal with meat, grains and vegetables first.  He asked for what he thought he needed, but I gave him what I knew he really needed.  Would our heavenly father do any less?

Father,

Thank you for taking such good care of us and supplying our real needs rather than our imagined ones.  Help us to rejoice in our opportunities to grow.  Amen.

Joys:  Kevin planting flowers for me for Mother's Day; successful surgery for Pastor Chad; provision for my needs.