Wednesday Words of Encouragement

Matthew 7:7-11 (NLT) ~ 

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

Emily missed her school bus yesterday.  She was absent on Friday and Monday and apparently, the bus driver just assumed and barely slowed at all on Tuesday.  When I called the bus company they told me she is supposed to wait at the end of the driveway, not on the porch.  The problem with that is that it's pitch black out at 6:30 in the morning and she is scared.

This morning as I got ready to go to an early breakfast meeting, I noticed Dan getting his shoes on.  I said, "I'll walk her out since my ride will be here in a moment."  He said, "No!"  "That is my job as her father to make sure she is safe.  And that, my friends, made me feel wonderful about my husband.  

He has always been active in our children's lives.  He makes sure that the boys' cars are in working order.  Every Wednesday he takes Emily to the library and then they go to Cumberland Farm's for snacks.  He provides for his family.  He is a good father.

However, he pales in comparison with the love our Heavenly Father shows us.  The Lord loves to give us good gifts.  Everything that comes our way is for our ultimate good, even when we don't always see it that way.  So often though, we view God as some sort of dictator just waiting to rip the rug out from under us.  We say we trust Him and still we doubt when we pray about a situation.  We waver when we can't see the big picture.

This passage in Matthew reassures us that our Heavenly Father will give good gifts to those who ask.  We just need to believe that He will do this.  We need to be confident in our asking.  We need to trust.

So if you are struggling with fear and doubt today, remember how much your Father in heaven loves you.  If you were blessed with a good earthly father, this may come easier to you then to those of us who had absentee dads.  Yet, He loves us all and is waiting to pour out His blessings on His children.

All you have to do is ask!