Before I Call
A devotional by Alexis A. Goring
“Before they call I will answer; while they are still
speaking I will hear.”
~Isaiah 65:24 (NIV)
One day,
God answered a prayer that I did not pray. His providence amazes me! Allow me
to tell you the story of the time when God answered me before I called.
It was an
ordinary weekend. The food supply in the house was low, but I didn’t have money
to buy groceries. I found myself thinking, I
wish I had money to go to Panera, but I need to save my money to pay bills.
So I determined to do without. I stayed home and went about my business.
A few
hours later, I was talking to a writer friend who I was helping by providing
feedback on certain elements in her story. She told me that she appreciated my
time and talent, so she wanted to give me a gift as a thank you for my pro bono
services. She asked me to choose what I wanted and suggested options like gift
cards from Amazon and Starbucks. My first thought was about my wish list of
books on Amazon, so I asked for an Amazon.com gift card. So she sent that to me
via e-mail within the hour.
But since our arrangement was
ongoing, she’d offered to send more than one gift throughout the editorial
process. And I decided, since I was craving Panera, that’s what I’d ask for. But
I wondered, how? I didn’t know if Panera had
e-cards. So I called a local restaurant, and they directed me to their company
website where indeed there was an option to send e-gift cards. I copied the
direct link and sent it to my writer friend who then agreed that my payments
going forward would be e-gift cards to Panera!
After our conversation, I realized
God had answered me before I called. I
never stopped and prayed to Him to make a way for me to have enough extra money
to go to Panera, I simply thought it and pushed the thought aside when I
realized it wasn’t happening right now. But God heard my thoughts, and He
decided to bless me unexpectedly!
God is so good. He watches over all of His
children—the ones who know Him and the ones who do not know Him yet.
He wants us all to be saved in
His Kingdom, to make it to Heaven and spend eternity in His presence. But we
have to choose to accept the gift of salvation that He offers through His Son
Jesus Christ, and we have to choose to follow Him.
Falling in love with Jesus and
following Him have been the best decisions I’ve made in my life. I wouldn’t be able to stand
through the trials and storms of life without Him and His provision. Just like
God provided for me by answering my prayer before I asked, He wants to provide
for you too.
The Bible
says that He takes care of the sparrows in the sky, and we (His children) are
worth far more than sparrows, so He will definitely take care of us. My story
of how God provided for me is just a small picture of the grand scheme of
things that God does for His children.
God is always at work in our lives. Even when we cannot see Him or feel His presence, He’s still there. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:5 that God will never leave or forsake us. It’s a promise from His heart to ours, and God faithfully keeps all of His promises!
I’m still growing in
my faith walk with God, and I love it when He reminds me of Bible verses that apply
to my experience.
The Bible verse that speaks to my recent experience involving my desire for Panera
reminds me of Isaiah
65:24 (NIV) in which God says, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still
speaking I will hear.”
It delights my soul that God taught me a lesson of His providence
through answering my unspoken prayer regarding my desire for food from Panera.
He used this to remind me that He cares about every detail as big as paying a
mortgage to as small as buying a favorite meal from your favorite café.
So I’d like to encourage you to go
to God first with your every concern, request, and praise report. Then trust Him to provide for your
every need… and sometimes your wants too! Trust that sometimes, even before you
go to Him in prayer, He’ll hear you and answer your heart’s desire in a totally
unexpected way like He did for me. Why? Because before we call, God will
answer; while we are yet speaking, God will hear!
God is
amazing, friends! I hope and pray that you will experience His blessings, His providence,
and His love for you.
Alexis A. Goring is a passionate writer with a degree in
Print Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing. She loves the art of
storytelling and hopes that her stories will connect readers with the enduring,
forever love of Jesus Christ.
You can find her at the following links:
Website:
https://alexisagoring.jimdo.com
Thank you, Alexis for this lovely devotional today. I loved you you portrayed the sudden yearning for something specific, and how God came through for you. Isn't He wonderful?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alexis, for sharing your excellent devotional and testimony! As I read, I kept thinking of Ephesians 3:20 "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or THINK..." I love that it doesn't just say more, but says "exceeding... abundantly... above... ALL" ! I thought of the many times that I, too, have found this Scripture to be so very true - beyond even my imagination!
ReplyDeleteHi, Becky! Thanks for visiting. What a lovely scripture verse to share. Isn't that a wonderful promise?
Delete