A Father knows His child's voice.

One evening last week I was called to the hospital and made it home just after supper. Ready to sit down and grab a bite for supper, I came in and headed to put up my truck keys and take off my shoes. As I walked down the hall towards my bedroom, I heard my oldest son Dru make a statement. This statement is the same statement he's made time and time again. The only thing different about the statement is the tone in which he spoke. Like any conversation you have, his tone reflected something different about the statement. All he said was "Hey dad." The thing that caught my attention as I made my way to the bedroom was that his tone implied he needed something. He might have had a question. He may have needed some help with something. He might have wanted something. In the end, I knew my son needed something from me.

I thought it was interesting that after 11 years I had tuned my ear to my child's voice in such a way that I could tell the inflection of his voice when he needed something. I find it even more interesting that it doesn't take that long for God to recognize that we have a need. Sure, God's ear is probably tuned to each of His child's voices like mine is, but the Bible tells us that God knows our needs before we even present them to Him. Jesus said in Matthew 6:8 (NIV), "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." How reassuring is this. How comforting is it to know that before our need even arrives in our life God already knows about it. Not only does He know about it, but He's already made plans to meet your need.

Many times though, rather than relying on God to meet our needs we seek help and guidance from every place under the sun except Him. We talk to our friends. We Google an answer. We read articles. We do all this extra and unnecessary work when God has planned to provide for our need before we were ever born. All we have to do is ask Him for help. James 4:2 (NIV) warns us as to why we don't have God's provision in our life when we go chasing after help from the world. James wrote, "You do not have, because you do not ask God." Many times we wallow in need when God, who already knows and is ready to provide for our need, simply wants us to ask Him for the help. This isn't because He is some sort of power hungry, egotistical, self-absorbed megalomaniac. It's because He wants us to see He is our provider and He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to put our faith in Him for everything in this life, including when we need some help.

I'll end with this. I stopped in when I came back down the hall past my son's room. I simply asked him if he needed something and he did. If you're struggling with something and need God's help, don't wait. Go to Him in prayer and share with Him your need. He'll provide for your need as His will determines and you will begin to trust Him more as you see He is faithful to provide.


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