Before We Ask

God answers prayer. Sometimes He intervenes before we even think about asking. One dark, winter evening I drove to the airport en route to a family funeral. We had only recently moved to the area and lived about 50 miles outside the city where the airport was located. I knew how to get to the airport, but the maze of highways encircling the city remained a mystery to me.

With barely enough time to catch my flight, a radio announcement grabbed my attention. A certain bridge had closed, due to an accident. My hands tightened on the wheel. I needed to cross that bridge to get to the airport. I didn’t have a clue about an alternate route. The incident pre-dated cell phones and GPS. If I had to stop and ask directions, then try to find my way in an unfamiliar area, in the dark, I would most likely miss my flight. My plane was the last one scheduled that night for my destination. Just as my mind began its descent into panic, I heard the voice on the radio say, “If you are on your way to the airport . . .” and he proceeded to give alternate directions which worked perfectly. I arrived at the airport in time.

God often uses little life experiences to teach big life lessons. Before I knew I had a problem, God had already worked out a solution. Just at the perfect time, He revealed it to me, and in the most unexpected way. Life is a series of problems. From our perspective, some are trivial with obvious solutions, some are more mysterious and some are so far beyond us we don’t even know how to approach them, let alone solve them. Sometimes we may not even recognize we have a problem, and just continue blithely on our way, unaware of the hindrances that may be lurking.

But God knows the end from the beginning. None of it ever catches Him by surprise. All our days are in His hands. He knew them all before any of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). He knows each tomorrow as well as every yesterday. He knows our every need – long before we do.

Often God comes through in mighty ways when we pray for His help. But it wasn’t in response to my nervous prayer for miraculous intervention that God acted. I don’t even remember praying. He acted out of His faithfulness and grace, before I even asked. He cares for us moment by moment whether we are aware or not.

We can travel with the assurance that we are not alone. Whatever obstacles may be in the path we have planned, God knows how to remove them or He can show us how to find another way. There is great comfort in knowing we don’t have to know everything.

I will answer them before they even call to me. Isaiah 65:24 NLT

 

Blessings,
Phyllis

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Image by John R Perry from Pixabay

Copyright 2023 Phyllis L. Farringer