“I didn’t know.”

Yesterday between classes Amy checked our little mailbox.  It held the regular array of items from periodicals to junk mail to a personal letter from family friends.  Handing it all to me I neatly stacked it and set it aside.  I didn’t know…

…I didn’t know that after that class the school’s registrar would be there in the back of the room and there she would break the news to us.  The news that the Veteran’s benefits, the ones which we’d been told for almost a year would cover all our tuition expenses, will only cover ½ as they can’t cover the portion of the cost which is essentially for Amy’s training.  Ok, sound enough rationale, but what now?

…I didn’t know the next incremental tuition payment was due in 4 days.

…I didn’t know when I saw the dollar figure where in the world we’d come up with the money on such short notice.  “God…help us.”

…I didn’t know what we were going to do as we hiked up the steep hill to our apartment.  As we walked through the door, out of breath, I pulled the mail out of my backpack and dropped it on the dining table beside the tuition fee schedule.

…I didn’t know what our friend’s letter held for us as I carefully opened the top with my pocket knife.  Inside was a short note which closed with, “The Lord is with you.”  Indeed He is.

See, I didn’t know when I sat reading about our Lord, El Emunah, the Faithful God over a bowl of cereal in the morning that He had already met a need I didn’t even know I had.  For inside the letter, postmarked almost a week previous, was a check for the exact amount of the tuition installment due in a couple days.  Wow.  Wow!  Really?!  YES!  But why should I be surprised?  Did not Jesus, preparing to provide a model of prayer for His disciples, say, “…for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” [Matthew 6:8]

That is the God we serve ladies and gentlemen.  God not only provided for our immediate need but also clearly and unequivocally answered an earlier prayer which I’d prayed just before we headed out the door to class in the morning, “I ask You to open the eyes of my heart so I can see Your faithfulness and stand without a shadow of doubt in the confidence of a covenant relationship with You.” [Praying Through the Names of God, Tony Evans]  I have no doubt as I stand in awe of the provision of our Faithful Father.