Blue Bicycles and Other Delights

Sometimes I like to re-read books I read a while ago, not just to refresh my memory, but to get things I may have missed the first time. The second (or third) time around, I'm reading it with a different perspective. Sometimes, re-reading a phrase, but putting the emphasis on a different word gives a new meaning or a fresh insight.

Such a moment occurred many years ago, when I was reading Psalm 37:4 which says, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires." I had once taken that to mean that if I 'delighted' in Him, He'd give me what I wanted. However, as I re-read the verse that day, I understood it to say that He would place His desires in my heart if I let Him. I felt great delight in that, because I trust that His will for me is surely better than mine and greater than I can imagine.

Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God) gives a great example of this. He tells of the time he wanted to give his son a bicycle for his sixth birthday, and found a blue Schwinn which he thought would be perfect. He bought it and hid it the garage, because the boy's birthday was yet a few weeks away. Then, over the next week or two, he found subtle ways to influence his son to think that a bike was a great idea, even suggesting a blue bicycle was the ultimate.

Soon, his son wanted a blue bike more than anything. And it was already in the garage! Blackaby just had to convince his son to ask for it; he did; he got it, and he was delighted! ...Not just because he 'wanted' it, but also because it was a great gift which his dad knew he'd love. His dad didn't trick him into wanting something he'd bought on a whim. His dad knew about six year old boys, he knew about HIS six year old boy, and he knew what would ultimately delight him and be good for him.

Romans 8:26-27 says, "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." Blackaby explains it this:

"What happens when you pray? The Holy Spirit knows what God has "in the garage." It's already there. The Holy Spirit's task is to get you to want it -- to get you to ask for it. What will happen when you ask for things God already wants to give or do? You will always receive it... Because you have asked according to the will of God. When God answers your prayer, He gets the glory and your faith is increased."

I just know my Father has a BIG garage.