Cars, Papers and Living Words

God always provides what we need.

It's a truth I'm still learning to really believe, and it's a truth my kids don't grasp yet either. My oldest daughter, in particular, is very easily gripped by anxiety when she perceives a need or problem (however small) and can't immediately see how she can fix it. This morning I encountered yet another example of this. It's VBS week (which means it's my week to live in the car) and yesterday, she left some papers at a friend's house that she needed to bring today. She realized this as we were heading out the door, already on the verge of being late. Instantly, her world began to fall to pieces. Anguished outbursts like "Mommy, if I don't have those papers, I'm going to FAIL VBS!" and several "But what ifs" were her contribution to the getting-out-the-door conversation. The mood in the car was no better.

So before we started on their memory verse for the day, I pleaded with my daughter to trust that God knows what we need and always provides it. He knows whether she needs those papers today, so she doesn't need to worry about it. I then related to the kids how Mommy and Daddy are often tempted to be anxious and not trust God's goodness and provision for us. Just this week, Nathan's car was hit (thankfully, he wasn't in it and no one was hurt), and the damage was bad enough that we thought it might be totaled. If so, we'd be needing to purchase a new vehicle, and that would cost us more than the old one was worth--money we didn't have. We had a few days to wait for the damage assessment and during that time, worry was an easy option. But both past experience and--more importantly--God's Word tell us that He always cares for our true needs and so, I told the kids, we prayed that God would provide the right provision for our car need. And because God is always faithful, He did. In His kindness and provision, the car is a hair less than totaled, so it will be fixed at no cost of any of us by the insurance, and we don't need a new vehicle. (And of course, had it actually been totaled, we know God would have somehow provided us with a new one... or a job that didn't require a car... or some other answer I don't yet have a category for!) This, I told my daughter, is how God cares for the details of our lives, and so we must not be anxious, but trust and pray.

Then we turned to the memory verse, which "happened" to be Psalm 46:1. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." After repeating it with them once, it occurred to me that such a verse was immediately applicable to my daughter's trouble with the forgotten VBS papers. I was just about to point this out when she piped up, "Hey, Mommy! This verse is exactly about my situation and what you just said! How did the VBS people know to make this the verse for today?!" ....Which gave me the opportunity to say, "That's God's provision for you! He knew you'd have this trouble today, and He knew that this verse would apply. He's already begun to answer our prayer for provision by providing you with His Word today. That's how good He is, that He makes even those little details work together for your good." And then we talked about what it means for God to be our refuge, and an ever-present one at that.

She was left in wonder that a seemingly "random" VBS Bible verse could be given by God to speak directly into her day, and I was left praising the God who opens the eyes even of little children to see and hear how His words apply to their lives (and mine!).

Thank you, Lord, for not only allowing my daugher to hear your Word regularly from infancy, but also for granting her the faith-building experience of seeing your Word come alive to her in the midst of her very present 8-year-old troubles. May we all grow in trusting your good and gracious provision for our lives, not only in fixed cars or found papers, but also especially in your living Word to your people!