November 13Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of — Matt. 6:8.
Our petitions, our requests, our cries to the Lord, therefore, should be for the holiness of heart, for the filling of His Spirit, for the spiritual food, refreshment, strength; and as for the natural things, He knows the way we take and what would be to our best interests as Christians. We are to leave this to Him; He would not be pleased to see us importuning Him for things which He did not give us, for to do so would not be an exemplification of faith in Him, but the reverse—an exemplification of doubt, a manifestation of fear that He was forgetting or neglecting His promise to give us the things needful—Z '04, 90 (R 3337). We stand in need of earthly and heavenly things, but we do not understand the details respecting them. Nor do we know in what order, time, place and manner these needs may best be supplied. Therefore we should refrain from giving the Lord specific directions respecting the supply of them. It is enough for us to know that God knows their every detail, and just how, when and where to supply them. Nor need we doubt His willingness to supply them, because as our Father He pities us more than earthly fathers pity their children. Therefore let us wait on Him, grateful and content in His provision for us—P '30, 183. Parallel passages: Psa. 38:9; 69:17-19; 139:2; Matt. 6:32-34; Luke 11:13; John 16:23, 24; Phil. 4:6, 19; 1 John 5:14, 15. Hymns: 121, 301, 67, 99, 293, 63, 333. Poems of Dawn, 109: I Know Not the Way That's Before Me. Tower Reading: Z '15, 38 (R 5623). Questions: What events of the week indicate the Lord's providence over me? Have I trusted or worried during the week? What helped or hindered? What lessons did I learn from the experiences? |
|
I KNOW NOT THE WAY THAT'S BEFORE ME
I KNOW not the way that's before me,
The joys or the griefs it may bring;
What clouds are o'erhanging the future,
What flowers by the wayside may spring.
But there's One who will journey beside me,
Nor in weal nor in woe will forsake;
And this is my solace and comfort,
"He knoweth the way that I take."
I KNOW not the way that's before me,
The joys or the griefs it may bring;
What clouds are o'erhanging the future,
What flowers by the wayside may spring.
But there's One who will journey beside me,
Nor in weal nor in woe will forsake;
And this is my solace and comfort,
"He knoweth the way that I take."