I Asked And God Answered, He Is Faithful In All Things

Don’t get me wrong–I love kids, but those ages 10 to 13 plagued by hormonal surges, a sordid home life, and a propensity to tune-out authority figures, light a fire under my prayer life.  So it was, when I walked into an inner-city school to substitute for the P.E. teacher, I immediately mentioned to the Lord the importance of His presence and His angelic helpers.  Now I know Jesus is always with me (Hebrews 13:5), but in this case, I needed the extra assurance of specifically asking for it. (James 4:2)

Considering I was a substitute teacher for a P.E. class (challenging in and of itself), and it was snowing for the first class hour, a “pinch-hitter” health article complete with questions was provided for me to hand out to 28 disappointed eighth graders.  Taking a deep breath, I entered the room.  Lo and behold, their homeroom substitute teacher decided to stay in the room for her break.  She helped with attitudes and other issues.  By the end of the hour, a few gained additional knowledge, and there were no problems.  Thank you, Lord.

The second hour class consisted of over 30 sixth graders, with very unique, hard to remember names.  Their reputation of being a “tough bunch” preceded them.  Their regular teacher, wise and seasoned, male and taller than all of us, discerned it better for everyone to just watch a video.  Even though it was his break time, he stayed around moving in and out of the room.  There was peace and order.  I praised the Lord.

I received a warning that the next class of fifth graders was really a challenge.  Was I up for that?  “Sure,” I replied, confident in God’s faithfulness.  As the Lord would have it, there were two really reliable students who wanted to help.  By the grace of God, the weather had improved drastically.  The dusting of snow had melted and the sun was warming the air–outside we went.  With the help of the two ministering angels (seemed like it to me), the class participated willingly in warm up exercises and a rousing game of kickball.  Oh, how good God is.

Lastly, I prepared to enter the “dreaded”, quite large, seventh grade class.  One of the school administrators chose to assist me for the hour.  Together we had a relatively productive time of learning then small group sports practice outside. Peace.  Thank you, Jesus.

You may wonder about the point of my story.  It is simple–God is faithful.  When we ask, He hears, especially when we pray according to His will. (1 John 5:14o-15)  He is a big God and when we don’t bother to ask or ask “easy” things of Him, it does Him a disservice.  It could have been a horrible day, but I asked and God answered by His presence and angelic assistance in unique, unexpected ways.  I, like David lamenting in the Psalms, called upon God, He heard, and answered.  He’ll hear you, too. (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Where have you missed out on God’s provision when all you had to do was ask?