Do You Really Know?

“...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Mt. 6:8).

Father, I need sleep, pain relief, peace. I need a resolution in this situation. Financial help. Freedom. I need….

But no sleep. Waves of nausea continue. Bills pile up. The violence continues. The addiction still rages. The anxiety doesn't leave. The baby doesn't come back to life. The chemotherapy doesn't work.

Father?

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret… in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me…. [E]ven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world… In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ” (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 139:15-16; Eph. 1:4-5).

Father, Creator. Does he not know me and you intimately? Created the body that needs sleep? Created my soul that needs hope? Created your body that needs clothes and a house? Our Creator, The-Knitter-Of-My-Tendons-And-Soul-And-Heart knows my needs, knows our needs.

“Then the Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings…’ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Exodus 3:7; Rom. 5:10).

Father, Elector, Caller—before we ask, even while enemies. It is not clear in the text if the Israelites were groaning and crying out to the Lord. The text merely says “their cry.” To whom? Maybe to the Lord. Yet, it appears their knowledge of God was limited—Moses said, “Who shall I tell them sent me—the God of their fathers? And if they ask what is his name?” (Ex. 3:13). The Lord, in his grace, came down to them, heard their cry, even if just directed generally. Their Father knew what they needed before they asked. And so great is his compassion, even while we were still enemies, he provided for our greatest need, to reconcile us to God, the Creator, Provider of every need, the Fountain of Life. This "greatest need" is not spiritualizing. It is not trying to sound super-spiritual. It is humbly recognizing who we really are--dependent beings. It is putting the needs in context--as dependent beings, we need to be connected to the Giver. And it is dignifying--recognizing we are beings created for eternity, beings with souls, emotions, desires, dreams. All blessings—sleep, food, finances, peace—flow from him. And we are his. He comes to us in our need.

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. There was a certain man…” (Judges 13:1-2).

Father, Redeemer. What is most noticeable about the verse in Judges is what it does not say. The author continues directly into the birth of Samson, the next judge to save Israel. In the previous judges, the Israelites had cried out to the Lord and he saved them. But here, they do not even cry out. Apathy. Despair. Worldliness. For whatever reason, they did not cry out. But the Lord still had compassion. Their Father still knew their deepest need, even if they were too apathetic, hopeless, dark, or loving the world to cry out. Our Redeemer knows our need.

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope….I go and prepare a place for you….  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for [you]  an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as [you] look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (Jer. 29:10-11; Jn. 14:3; 2 Cor. 4:17-18)

Father, All-Wise Knower of the Future. The Jews in exile had this great promise of “I know the plans I have for you” declared to them—but that generation did not see it. He knew their need, he knew their children’s needs, and he knew our need. Perhaps what seemed to them to be their most obvious need was not fulfilled in that moment. Perhaps what seems to us to be our most pressing need is not met then. That crushing moment may cause us to doubt our Father. The Serpent slithers in, “Did he not say…. Is he really good?” And our Father whispers, “I know the plans I have for you. Yes, my dear, they may be different from your plans. But I know you; I know your need; I know your future; I know the billions of years this will impact with me for eternity. I know how it is woven for your Real Good. Your Better. I go to prepare a place for you—just for you.”

We see glimpses of his Father heart and his Father character. Genesis and creation. Exodus and redemption. Judges and rebellion. Jeremiah and exile. Jesus our Savior, Brother, Author and Perfector. Now. And yet to come. Part of this great cloud of witnesses, we dare trust. Not with gritted teeth to trust in the dark. Not with firm resolve from our own willpower. Not with a head beaten against the wall and thumped by the Bible because this is what we are told is true, or what we “should” believe, or what tradition says. We dare trust because this God has intervened in time and space, showing his character. And he can do so again. Creator, Elector, Redeemer, Knower of the Future—he knows our needs.