For today’s blog post I’ll need to give a big of background information, so please bear with me.
One of the hobbies that I have got into lately is that of Sim Racing. “What on earth is that?” you may ask. Well essentially it is like a car racing game played on the computer (or Xbox, or PlayStation) but with a focus on realism, where things like tyre wear and temperature, fuel consumption, damage and suspension settings are all taken into account. Essentially the goal is to simulate actual racing as close as possible.
Towards the end of last year I got involved in a casual league, participating in one or two online races a month. It was a great deal of fun, despite the fact that I had to use an Xbox controller to race with. The ideal is to have a wheel and pedal setup which gives you much greater control and helps to it feel more like you’re really driving. I would have loved to get my own wheel but the problem is that these wheel setups are not cheap, and so getting one would have to remain a pipe dream. Oh I really did want one, but there were far more important things, it was certainly not a need.
And yet, God knew my heart. I hadn’t directly prayed for a wheel, there were other far more significant things to bring before Him in prayer. Despite this He answered that unsaid prayer through the generosity of one of the guys in our league who, out of the blue, sent me a message saying that he was upgrading to a new wheel setup and that I was welcome to have his old one. I was blown away and knew immediately that this was from the Lord.
I remember sitting there just praising Him, not so much for the wheel itself (although it is pretty awesome!) but more for the fact that He cares for me so much that He even cares for the things that I care for. Surely the God of the universe has more important things to attend to, more pressing prayer needs to address, that a trivial thing like this would not even feature on His agenda? And yet it did.
I was reminded of the following passages of Scripture:
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:3-4)
Now the focus of these verses is not on mere material things. The greatest gifts of God are the spiritual blessings He pours into our lives, with eternal life in Christ being the number one gift of them all. Neither does it mean that we should draw near to God just for what He can give us. But the gifts that God gives can include material things, for He is our Provider, in both the physical and spiritual sense. Even the “trivial” things come from His generous hand. Also, if our delight is in Him, we honestly need no other thing, He is enough, in fact He is more than enough. However, just as a loving parent enjoys giving their child gifts that will bring them joy, so too does God lavish His love upon us in the small, little things as well as the big.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. (Psalm 107:1)
God Bless
Graham
Thanks Graham. He has “knit us together in our mother’s womb” and knows everything about us (Ps139).
Another great thought to ponder on..Thanks Graham.