Timely

My husband knows when to walk in the door with an apple fritter.  Not that there is ever a bad time, but over the course of our nearly forty years of marriage he has acquired the ability to know when I need one the most.  I thank God for giving him that gift.

I’m also thankful God is “on time” with his gifts.  Reading in Hebrews this morning, I came upon this verse: “So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16, ISV) I noticed few things I hadn’t seen before.

First, we are invited to come boldly.  Family is bold, guests are not.  Have you ever noticed that difference?  Guests still ask to use something in your home.  Family walks up to the refrigerator and drinks right out of the milk jug.  Okay, maybe not at your house, but they do at mine.  The point is: there is a certain timidity with being a guest.  You stay on your best behavior for fear of being ousted.

Family, on the other hand, has a “comfortability” that by-passes conventionality and operates with a freer boldness.  God has invited us into his family and wants us to move with greater confidence when it comes to bringing our needs before him.

Truth be told: he already knows what they are.

You try to anticipate your guests’ needs and provide accordingly, but you don’t know for sure what they need until they ask. And often, they won’t ask.

God knows all of our needs and he’s waiting for us to ask.

In this verse, it seems he’s telling us to stop acting like guests and ask for what we need with the confidence. The confidence that comes from knowing the One being asked.

And then there is the little phrase: “in our time of need.”

Some translations use an image of seasonable help.  While God has the ability to supply all your needs (Phil. 4:19), he doesn’t just dump on you.  It’s a bit like the manna God provided to the wanderers in the wilderness.  It came fresh every morning and they were to take enough for that day, otherwise it would spoil (and it was a rotten spoilage).

Jesus, when he was teaching his disciples to pray, picked up on this when he taught them to ask for their daily provision, their daily bread.

We’re a funny people.  Let the weather gurus forecast a big storm and the food flies off the grocery shelves like there’s not going to be a tomorrow.  It becomes a first come, first hoard nightmare.

God doesn’t work that way.  He will give grace and mercy when you need it—never too early, never too late.

So whether it’s a timely delivered apple fritter, a call from a friend, a job prospect, or an unexpected windfall, we can know that God will be right on time for our every need.