Sometimes I forget that God knows my needs before I do. He reminded me of that one particular Sunday morning a few years ago.

Sunday morning blowout

I seldom see people I know as I drive on the freeway, but that morning, I recognized a good friend as I drove to church. I honked and waved as I drove past her and thought it nothing more than a fun coincidence since we were both headed to the same place.

Several minutes later, as I reached the top of a very high overpass, my car hit a large piece of road debris and one of my tires immediately went flat. Suddenly I was stranded several hundred feet up and right in the middle of a potentially dangerous section of freeway just minutes short of my destination.

I was able to pull over to a relatively safe area, but my mind reeled at how I was going to manage to walk all the way down the off ramp in traffic with two small children, a diaper bag, a purse, and my Bible and still make it to church in time to teach my Sunday school class. Plus, of all the days, I’d chosen to wear heels that morning. It did not look promising.

I looked up and could see our church’s large, 170-foot cross right in front of me. And in that instant I remembered my friend and realized that she should be just moments behind me. I looked out my window just in time to see her coming up from the other side of the overpass and flagged her down. Her husband – who “just happens” to work on tires for a living and “just happened” to be right behind her in his work truck – was able to change my tire and we were all back on the road in no time at all.

As I parked my van at the foot of the large, white cross on our church campus, I realized that God had provided provisions for my unexpected car trouble before I ever even knew I had a need. Miraculously, I even made it to class in time to teach my Sunday school lesson.

Jesus meets needs

There is a moment in John 19:25-27, while Jesus is suffering on the cross, that often gets overlooked. Since Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, is not mentioned at the crucifixion, it is assumed that he had already passed away. With His mother, Mary, being a widow, the responsibility of her care and well-being fell to Jesus, the eldest son. So when Jesus sees His mother standing at the foot of the cross near John the disciple, He takes the time – in the midst of His pain and His agony – to make sure that His mother will be taken care of after His death. He passes on the responsibility to John and makes certain that both he and Mary know that from then on John is to treat Mary as if she were his own mother and look after her as such.

Even while dying on the cross, Jesus was concerned with meeting needs. He answered prayers before they were ever prayed and arranged provisions before the needs were even exposed. Sometimes when we tell Him of a circumstance or obstacle that has suddenly come up, we feel as if He was caught off guard just as much as we were. But we forget that He not only knew about our needs before we did, He has also been at work behind the scenes in order to meet those needs in His divine and perfect timing.

   Q: What needs do you need God to meet today?

[Excerpt from At The Foot of the Cross: A 90-Day Devotional for Becoming Living Proof of a Loving God to a Watching World]