Your Heavenly Father

Day 25

Your Heavenly Father

 

When my daughter was around eight years of age her imagination was captured by a lego set modelled on a speeder bike ridden by the young heroine from star wars. She started saving her pocket money towards it (which wasn’t very much) but also every night for several months she’d pray ‘Dear God, please help me save enough to get the Rae speeder bike lego set’.

I felt a bit conflicted by her prayer, as her mother. Is a lego set really what we should be praying about? I wasn’t sure if I should encourage her to pray for less material outcomes. After all, lego wasn’t exactly a need was it?

After a few months we travelled to Canada as a family to help facilitate a discipleship camp. My brother and sister in law were there at that time working with a church. Soon after our arrival Leeanne, my sister in law, drew me aside and said, “Liz, I’ve bought this lego set for Zoë as a Christmas gift, it was reduced on special offer, and I just wanted to check if she’d be interested in such a thing?!”.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the exact lego set Zoë had been praying for all those months, and because of the price reduction it was within range of her meagre pocket money savings! I explained this to Leeanne and she allowed Zoë to use her pocket money to buy it… and we all laughed out loud at the generosity of God who supplies even lego sets for His children when they pray!

Zoë’s eyes shone that day, and this story has been told and retold by her as the moment God heard her prayers and answered, and in every retelling a heart is encouraged and strengthened.

And now I begin to understand. It wasn’t about the lego set. God knew that Zoë didn’t need the lego set. But she did need to understand that her Heavenly Father’s presence was with her, hearing her, seeing her, just a whispered prayer away. It was about this eight year old girl learning that God was walking with her, listening attentively to her prayers and working actively in her life.

Now my beautiful daughter is 18 years old, and she has just been through the toughest few years of her life, having left behind the country of her birth, moved to an entirely new country and unfamiliar area, started school knowing no-one, loosing both her adored grandfathers within a year of each other, and then also losing a much loved childhood Jamaican friend very suddenly to drowning.

In this last year and a half Zoë needed to know God’s presence was with her, hearing her, seeing her, just a whispered prayer away. In this last season she desperately needed to sense God walking with her, listening attentively to her prayers and working actively in her life. God knew that she would be needing this all those years ago, before any of us understood she’d need this, so He planted this memory right there in her eight year old heart: I see you. I hear you. I’m here.

‘So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.’

Matthew 6: 31-32

The point is this… “your heavenly Father knows that you need them”. You have an attentive heavenly father who is attuned to your needs. You are not an orphan. You are not unseen. You are not unknown.

Your Heavenly Father wants to provide for you, physically, emotionally and spiritually. God knows what you need, not just the outside adornments, but also the deeper inner needs that the world can never satisfy and you barely know you have.

His presence is with you, hearing you, seeing you, just a whispered prayer away. What difference would it make in your life if you were to live and rest in this reality?

 

 

 

Journaling the Journey

The point is this: “your heavenly Father knows that you need them”. You have a heavenly father. You are not an orphan. You are not unseen. You are not unknown. Your Father wants to provide for you. God knows what you need, not just the outside adornments, but also the deeper needs that the world can never satisfy.

What difference would it make in your life if you were to live and rest in this reality?

Today’s hillside photograph is taken from Abberly Ridge overlooking the Worcestershire countryside, UK.