Ask, Seek, Knock... And it Will be Given to You

 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2

I recently started a Bible study called Behold Your God; Rethinking God Biblically and it is very good! It is shaking loose some incorrect beliefs about God and reminding me about who God is Biblically. But most of all it is rekindling the fire and passion for God that seems to have waned a little bit. It is reminding me that the Christian walk isn't about ME (Wait, what!?) but ALL about HIM. It is SO easy to slip into the world of the mundane, become complacent with God, engaging more with the world, and make things all about ME. Not that I am unimportant to God, after all, He gave His life for me, but I need to remember the reason for that sacrifice!! Why did Christ die for me? It is more than just paying for my sins, isn’t it also so that I can be reunited with HIM? If so, shouldn’t HE be my focus. We are cleansed and redeemed from sin so that we can come to Him, into His throne room without blemish. We are freed from sin so that we can spend our life developing a relationship with HIM not so that we could live our own life apart from Him. So, if you really think about it, it really isn't about us, but it should be all about HIM and who He is to us. Isn't that a wonderful reminder and mind shift?!

The other thing this study pointed out is that there is an “order” to things. First and foremost; “Who Christ is.” Second is “The work that he has done” and then third, “What I must do.” The scripture reference is Colossians 1:3-23. I will summarize this scripture in the correct order for perspective;

He is; The image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. By Him all things were created… He is before all things and in Him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence (verses 15-18)

He has; Qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He has reconciled all things to himself, making peace through his blood shed on the cross. (verses 12-14, 20-22)

We must; Not cease to pray and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That I may be worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God… Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. I must continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel. (verses 9-12, 23)

If we get any of these things out of order we will be out of balance! If we focus on what he has done first, it won’t have the same impact if we don’t really know who He is. If we focus on what we must “do” first, without knowing who He is, our work for him will not produce the desired fruit, if any fruit at all. He MUST always come first, then we have a greater understanding of what He has done and what we must do for Him will come as natural as breathing. The “must” isn’t an order from God but rather a natural result from KNOWING Him! It is a desire, or healthy compulsion, to serve Him because we truly know and LOVE Him and the result is that we want to do His will, and surrender everything we can for him. I would like to bring up some familiar scriptures and see if we can look at them in a different way today, and maybe see them from a different perspective.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:7-11

Over the years of my journey to know God, he has given me some wonderful insights and one of them is that He is all about the "Eternal" perspective, more so than the temporal. Because, as he says, this life is just a blink of an eye, here today and gone tomorrow. Even though we may feel like the “here and now” is lasting FOREVER, right? LOL! But it really isn’t, the older I get, the more apparent this is! What seems to matter most to God is what is ETERNAL and not temporal. The above Matthew scripture is just one example, and this will help me get to the purpose of this blog: When we read scriptures like this, what do we think of asking, seeking, and knocking for? (Side note; I am focusing mostly on Asking and Seeking in this blog, I will get into the knocking part in another blog).

Like a little child when their daddy is offering good gifts they think of things like sweets, toys, and Disneyland. As an adult child I am thinking, Woohoo, I can ask for whatever I wish!? And in my mind, I equate "good gifts" as something temporal and think … with my hand on my chin, looking up, saying hmmm… I could use a new car, a bigger house, new clothes, more money, a better job! (Just fill in the blanks of the good gifts you can think of!) Of course, all these things affect me in this life, and of course God wants to give these "good" gifts to me, right? Not a stone or a snake?!! Thank goodness! But if you think about it, all these things are temporal gifts, not even lasting my life time! I am not saying these things aren’t important to God or that He won't give those things to me, but are these the things is He asking me to "ask, seek, and knock" for? We get a clue in Luke's version of this scripture when he says; "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"  Luke 11:5-13 Wait! What!? I can ask for the HOLY SPIRIT?? Ahhh, yes. The Holy Spirit is ETERNAL, do you think this is what He wants us to ask for and seek?

Let's look at another scripture; in this Luke scripture He is saying that if we seek HIM first, our food and clothing, and basic necessities will be taken care of (the very things I was asking for before! DOH!). Also, I believe the "Life" He is referring to here is "eternal life"... "Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! … And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock,." Luke 12:23-34 

This is a great scripture to teach us about not worrying, but honestly now I am seeing it as an entreaty to not worry about the temporal things in life but instead SEEK HIM and HIS Kingdom first and when we DO, all the other things in life will be taken care of. He says the “pagan world” runs after these things… The Godless ones, the ones who don’t have Him. Since we DO have Him, we can trust Him to take care of these basic, temporal, needs. Remember the example of the “order” of things? You are probably thinking; DUH, Linda, are you just now getting this!? Well, yes and no. I think I have known but my understanding is going deeper into the question of, What AM I asking, seeking, and knocking for?? If not the temporal things in life, what DOES He want me to ask for? If I ask for bread, wouldn't He rather give me the Bread of LIFE, Jesus himself, and the Living Water of the Holy Spirit, and then trust him to give me the regular bread without asking for it!? “Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:10 He says, I feed the birds of the air and clothe the grass of the fields, how much more valuable are YOU!? I know you need these things, but instead, seek and ask for ME, the rest is already taken care of before time began!

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:19-20

In this above scripture, I have believed that if two or more are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst of us to expedite our prayers. Just a tool for us to get the things we are praying for, right? Again, not that this is wrong, but what if we think of it in this way; When two or more are gathered together and what they are really asking for is HIM, Jesus Himself, so that they can BE with Him, and then, there He is in the midst of them? Then they could be in the presence of God and commune with the living God together! Wouldn't the other, temporal, requests already be addressed? Thinking again about the order of things… this is another wonderful focus shift! Seeking and acknowledging Him first, desiring Him above all else, to be with us, then the other things will be added! Oswald chambers says “…are we seeking the blessings of God, or God who has the blessings?” Another mind shift!!

In Mark 11:21-24 Jesus cursed the fig tree and it died and He said “Have faith in God, Jesus answered... and do not doubt” What are we to have faith in? And what are we not to doubt?? Jesus says God himself! This takes us back to the order of things, having faith in God first and do not doubt Him! He says plainly that we can do the same things that HE does, but maybe we are missing the most crucial first step!! Who did Jesus always acknowledge first and dedicate His life to... Whose WILL did Jesus always do? Who did He always surrender to? He came to do HIS FATHER’S will and not his own! He was always in the presence of God and surrendered to God’s will in everything, even in His death. What are we asking for and seeking? Our will or God's? “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

In John 14:11 He says “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."  This is another great scripture to dissect a bit more. He says He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, this implies an intimate knowledge of God, the first crucial step. Then, the Son is bringing glory to the Father. In what way is he bringing glory to the Father? Is it temporal or eternal? And, IN HIS NAME, we can do the same things. What does that really mean anyway, to do things in His name? Do we just say his name to put the stamp or seal of approval on our requests? Maybe? But what if, in His name means that we are just like HIM, the image of Christ, in that we are in the Father and the Father is in us, that we know the Father as He did, and we seek to bring Glory to the Father in all our requests? What are we asking, seeking, and knocking for? “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:7-8

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." John 15:16

John 15 says a couple of times that the Father will give us whatever we ask, but again, there is a caveat and an order to both of these statements. He says the first step is that I remain in HIM, THEN He will remain in me, THEN I can ask whatever I wish and it will be given to me. THEN you will bear much fruit. The key part of this scripture being that I am REMAINING in an eternal God and bearing much [eternal] fruit, glorifying God and showing myself to be His disciple. Then in the next scripture he says we will bear fruit that will last. So first, remain in Him, second bear fruit that will last, thirdly the father will give you what you ask in His name. Notice the order of things.

In this scripture He brings up the pagans again, those who don’t know Him. "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."  Matthew 6:7-8 If he already knows what we need, why are we praying for these things? Could it be that prayer is just conversation and intentional time with HIM? I think that He just wants us to want to be with HIM! To KNOW Him… so, what am I asking, seeking, and knocking for??

Hang in there with me, I only have a couple more scriptures to go, I feel like this is so important I can’t say it enough! It is like I must reformat my own hard drive and I need all the help I can get, lol!!

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44 In this scripture a man found a treasure that was of great worth. What was this treasure?? He refers to the Kingdom of Heaven and is describing what it is like... so it must be an eternal “Kingdom” treasure? Could it be God Himself? Is God that treasure to us and is He worth so much to us that we would sell everything we have to have HIM? Wow. Very good question! This reminds me of the scripture of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking him what good thing must he do to have eternal life and Jesus said to him "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  Matthew 19:20-21 He told the young man that he needed to let go of the temporal riches and trade those in for eternal (heavenly) treasure, maybe Christ himself? THEN he could follow Him. But the young man had quite the conundrum. He had to make a very hard choice but apparently, he desired the temporal riches over what Jesus was offering and he went away very sad, because he had great wealth and he didn't want to let it go.

The second part of that scripture is similar except it was a pearl of great value that the man sold everything he had to buy it. Again, I think we are being asked if Christ is our pearl? Are we willing to sell everything to gain Christ? “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:45

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:3 What is the desire of my heart?? He says He will give it to me! Again, there is an order listed here, the first part of this scripture is very key. If I trust in the Lord, do good and dwell in the land enjoying safe pasture, delighting myself in the LORD, THEN He will give me the desires of my heart. If I am delighting in Him, then wouldn't HE be the desire of my heart?? 

So again, what am I asking, seeking, and knocking for? Okay, hopefully I have made some sense here and helped you to see these scriptures a little differently. I know I do!!

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34

Father, I may not be where I need to be or truly where I want to be, desiring YOU and You alone, but that is my hearts desire, my goal and my journey is to know YOU and YOU alone. My flesh may fail, but my spirit recognizes my need for you in a much greater way! Please help me get to there! I want to sell everything I have for the treasure and pearl of great wealth and value, eternal wealth, that only YOU can provide. I know that only You can satisfy my deepest longings. May my hunger and thirst for you overshadow anything else this world can offer me and may YOU alone be my delight, my treasure and my pearl!

I listed this scripture at the beginning, does it have a different significance to you now?

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2

A New Season... When one door shuts, another door opens

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” John 14:1-2

Tom and I recently entered a new season in life! As of June 30, 2024 we are no longer innkeepers. The owners of the Inn had to make a difficult, but necessary, decision to close the B&B. The timing was good, and we were all ready for this to happen. We had been innkeepers for almost 15 years (since October 15th 2009) and God had been preparing our hearts for a while, so we were ready for this change. We just didn't know what the next step was, and as of this writing, we are still not sure of all that God has planned for us. 

When we were informed of this decision to close the Inn, we had no clue where we would go or what we would do, we were ready, we just didn’t have any answers yet, lol. The thing about being resident innkeepers is that our residence and our job are at the same place. So, we lost both our job and our home at the same time. We were thankful that we were given ample time to make a plan and find something else. They waited longer than they wanted to close the Inn because they did not want to put us out on the street. But I told them that God had a plan and they needed to take care of them first and foremost. Keeping the Inn open was causing them a great deal of stress and I wanted them to take care of themselves and I knew God would take care of us.

Interestingly their announcement came just days after I was scheduled for knee replacement surgery. I saw my orthopedic surgeon on Friday, May 10th, surgery was scheduled for August 5th, and they let us know about the Inn closing on the following Monday, May 13th. This was not bad luck but very much a part of God's plan. Getting deeper into the details, the surgery being scheduled made it so that I couldn't get a new job because I would be out of work for 6 weeks after the surgery for recovery and rehab, and who would hire me knowing that? Also, because most of our "compensation" at the Inn translated into free rent and utilities, our actual income was so low that I qualified for Medicaid, based on our poverty level income, and that coverage is what is paying for the knee surgery (btw, they had just changed the law in NC and this new law was effective as of December 2023! God’s perfect timing maybe??)  If I, or Tom, get a job it would kick me out of that income level and I would lose the coverage, and I would end up having to pay for the surgery out of pocket, which is not an option. So, we were in quite the pickle! Again, this was not an accident, mistake, or bad luck, but this was God's perfect plan. I felt like he "funneled" us into the direction He needed us to go.

“…And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:3

I have been working with an elderly woman, Gerry, who just turned 94 in July, since August of 2008. I work with her two days a week and lately she has been needing a little more care. I had been thinking she would need me another day and had talked with her about it but it hadn't happened just yet. When she found out about our situation, she was concerned that we would find a place to live that would be out of the area and I wouldn't be able to help her anymore. Initially when we got the news of the Inn closing, I got on LinkedIn and was looking at other innkeeper jobs and applied for a couple on the coast and in the mountain areas, just to see what would happen but not really expecting anything to come of it. I mentioned this to Gerry and she started getting a bit distressed thinking about me not being able to be with her anymore. But just like I told the owners of the Inn, she wanted us focus on us and what we needed and not to worry about her. Another aspect of this is, with the knee surgery, even if we found a place locally (we had a couple friends offer their homes for us to stay in) I would still be out of commission for 6 weeks and wouldn't be able to work with her then either. 

Gerry lives in a townhome that, initially when I first started working with her, she shared with her sister Faye. Faye lived on the second floor and Gerry lives on the first floor. Faye passed away in 2010 so the second floor has been unoccupied since then, except when she had family visiting from out of town. Over the years, if Tom and I got into an argument, I would joke with Gerry that I was moving in with her, lol. That has been something we had joked about but never considered seriously, until now. One morning, when Tom and I were still at the Inn, I was talking with a guest who was there looking to relocate to the area and we were sharing our stories and talking about how God will take care of us, but we just needed to wait for His perfect timing. It was then that I felt God say that we needed to be with Gerry. It was one of those very clear, goose pimply, God moments and I just knew that that was where we were supposed to be!! So, I called Gerry's daughter-in-law, she was the one who hired me to work for Gerry, and laid out our situation and asked if she would be ok with us approaching Gerry about living with her until we could get the surgery and recovery done. She was fine with it, but said the decision ultimately was Gerry's, and suggested that we determine an end date so Gerry wouldn't feel like we would be there forever. So, the next time I was with Gerry, I laid out our situation, and asked if she would be ok if we stayed with her until I could get back on my feet. I told her not to give me an answer right away but to pray about it and talk with her family over the weekend and let me know on Monday what her decision was. Well, she called me on Saturday and said she felt the same way as she did when I asked her on Thursday, that she wanted to help us out and that we could move in with her. Wow. Thank you, God!

We moved in on Sunday, June 30th and have been here for a month now. Since we have been here, Gerry has needed even more care for certain medical conditions that have occurred during this time and her family has said a few times just how glad they are that we are here with her now! In addition, now that we are here, when I have my surgery and recovery time, Tom will be here to take care of me and her! This has worked out so perfectly for both of us! We needed a place to stay and she needed someone to be here with her. Was this an accident?? No. Only God.

The next question is, after the knee surgery and recovery, what will we do? Will we stay here or will God move us somewhere else? My sense now is that we will stay because I think Gerry will continue to need more care as time goes by and it is just so much easier for us to be HERE with her. I do know we will get other jobs because Tom's social security check isn't even close to being enough. We lost the Inn income (rooms and tips) and, since we are not paying rent, I told Gerry not to pay me for the care I give her, so we lost over half of our overall income. Once my knee is healed, my options will open up more. I can work anywhere really, but I think I will look into helping other elderly people. I know there is a big need out there so I may look further into that…? This is just a thought, but I know that God will reveal in His perfect timing what He already has planned for us.

This is where we are now. August 3rd, and my knee surgery is just two days away! So, I am gearing up for that big event and will do what I need to do to get back on my feet. I felt like I needed to write this blog because it literally is the end of an era for us, and the beginning of a new one. God miraculously provided for us, opening the door at the Inn over 14 years ago, providing a place for us after we were nomadic for 15 months. Back then the journey was quite stressful, bordering on terrifying, and incredibly life changing, in a good way. We have learned so much about God and ourselves while we were at the Inn that we are certainly not the same people, but we are continuously being transformed. He opened the door then, and He has closed it now. But the journey is certainly NOT over! The cool part is that, compared to the journey into the Inn, we can see just how much our faith and trust in God has increased and our anxiety level has, very noticeably, decreased as we watch Him work, moving us into this next season. (If you are interested in reading about our journey into the Inn, you can find it here: Caterpillar's to Butterfly's )

Yesterday's Oswald was good for this topic:

The Teaching of Adversity - John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity, which is something very different. ...

If you are a child of God, you will certainly encounter adversities, but Jesus says you should not be surprised when they come. "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He is saying, "There is nothing for you to fear." ...

God does not give us overcoming life --- He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength. Are you asking God to give you life, liberty, and joy? He cannot, unless you are willing to accept the strain. And once you face the strain, you will immediately get the strength....

God never gives us strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the moment. Our temptation is to face adversities from the standpoint of our own common sense. But a saint can "be of good cheer" even when seemingly defeated by adversities, because victory is absurdly impossible to everyone, except God.

Father, thank you so much for your amazing attention to details and your care for us! You truly are an incredible loving father who wants, most of all, for us to KNOW you through our circumstances! Thank you for the PEACE that comes from knowing that You are always with me and that Your plan is perfect and my life’s needs have been known by you and provided for long before time began. There are NO accidents or mistakes, just Your amazing plan and timing. With all of my love, Linda

(The pictures I have inserted were all taken at the B&B while we were there… we have hundreds, if not thousands, of them so these are just a few of the favorites)

Extra Credit Reading:

I felt like I would be remiss if I didn’t share just how amazing being at the B&B was. The owner and I would joke, and tell people/guests that, while we made a great team together, Tom and I got the better end of the deal because we got to stay in her beautiful B&B for free and she had to pay all the bills!! Her B&B was truly amazing and the yard was spectacular! It was over 6 acers with a pond, and for a while she had a wonderful swan named Romeo that made the pond look majestic. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2016. The nature we got to see on a daily basis was always breathtaking. The kitchen sink window looked out over the pond and, while I was doing the dishes, I got to see so many wonderful things in nature; The critters, the weather, the sunrises, the changing of the seasons… It was all so nice. I also LOVED working in the yard, with the flowers and the critters, it was very therapeutic for me.

I also enjoyed making the breakfasts for the guests! I was making healthy breakfasts for Tom and I before working at the Inn so it was easy for me to shift into breakfasts for the guests. My people pleasing and approval seeking tendencies worked well in this area, lol! I found a lot of easy and wonderful “guest pleasing” recipes and some became regular staples. But I really liked it when guests had dietary restrictions that I had to find new and unique recipes for. It helped break up the repetition of the “regular” fare. When I had a little bit of extra time and energy, I would find, and try out, new and interesting recipes on the guests and made them my guinea pigs, lol. They didn’t seem to mind it too much.

Of course, we wouldn’t have even had a job if it wasn’t for the guests themselves. We had SO many God appointments I lost count and we came to believe that everyone who walked through the door of the Inn was brought there by God, whether we talked about God or not, they were served, loved and prayed for. God’s presence at that Inn was so peaceful and calming, many guests said they slept better there than at any other time. And there were many times I would walk away from those God appointment conversations just blown away by what God just did. The guests truly were the best part of our job. In almost 15 years I can honestly say that most of the guests were amazing, wonderful, and very special people. We made so many new friends and we hope to stay in touch with several of them.

The reason we were “ready” to move to the next season in our life was mainly due to feeling like we were “aging out” of the job, lol. I will be 64 this year, and Tom is 66, and we were so busy all the time, the work was constant, and we were always having to be “on” 24/7… I guess we were just feeling burned out. That, and the fact that my knee was getting worse and preventing me from doing the things I would normally be able to do.

The owners of the Inn are amazing, kind, thoughtful and generous people, with a fun, silly streak, and it was an honor and a privilege to have been able to work for them for so long. I know that God has them, and us, in His Hands and we look forward to seeing what He will do next.

Has it been three days?

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way." Matthew 15:32

Last year I decided to listen to the whole Bible again and now I am back in the gospels. I don’t know what it is about the gospels but I feel more “at home” when I listen to them. Anyway, when I was listening to Matthew, I heard something differently this time. It was when Jesus was ministering to a great crowd of people and He said "… they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way." I was like… wait, what!? THREE days!!?? For some reason the reality of this information hit me with a deeper impact and understanding. Can you image being with a multitude of people, outside, for three days, without food? This must have been an impromptu situation that caught them unprepared…

Here are the scriptures that came before this (15:32); “Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” Matthew 15:29-31.

These people had been hanging out with Jesus, bringing their lame, blind and crippled, and watched him HEAL them for three days!? Wow. It must have been such an amazing and incredible experience that they were willing to wing it without food, and probably other supplies as well… for three days!

My next thought, after realizing how long they had been there, was that Jesus was fully aware of their circumstances and needs, and He already had a PLAN in place to take care of them. He said he had compassion for them, knowing their physical needs and wanted to provide for them before they went home. He had Compassion and Provision for them. Doesn’t knowing that give you a greater sense comfort? It does for me and it even confirms God’s awareness of our life’s circumstances “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26. Sometimes it feels like He isn’t around or aware of our difficulties, but He is, and He has already made provision for me, and for you!

This “three day” thing really intrigued me so I decided to look up all the scriptures that mentioned the “third day” or “three days” and boy was I surprised!! There were about 40 references for each of those two queries, so about 80 scriptures in total (that may change depending on your translation?)! Sometimes I feel like I am on the “caboose” of the knowledge train, but I had never thought about the Biblical significance of the number three before! There is a lot of significance to say the least! I knew, of course, the common “three days” scriptures of Jesus dying and being raised from the dead on the third day, and the significant reference to Jonah in the belly of the fish for three days, as a foreshadowing of Christ, but in looking up the scriptures I discovered that there are so many more that refer to three days that I never paid attention to.

(Somewhere in my thought process I thought of the Christian rock band Third Day and wondered if they knew the full significance of this title!)

 So, then I Googled the Biblical significance of the number three and got even more insight and information! I found the below information in this website: THE SYMOBLIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE THIRD DAY

 “In Scripture the number three is one of the so called "perfect numbers." The other "perfect numbers" are seven, ten, and twelve.  In Scripture the number three signifies completeness or perfection and points to what is solid, real, and substantial.  As a number which indicates completeness, the number three always identifies some important event in Salvation History.”

Well, that was cool!! With God, nothing is without some sort of significance and numbers seem to be a favorite of His! And the number three is super important! I was going to list all the “Third/three day” scriptures but this website did all that work for me (and then some!) so I will cut and paste them here:

In the Old Testament:

• It is the first of the four so called perfect numbers: 3 (divine perfection), 7 (spiritual perfection), 10 (ordinal perfection), and 12 (governmental perfection).  
• The earth was separated from the waters on the 3^rd day.
• There are 3 Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel.
• The 3 verses of the Priestly Blessing in which the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, God's holy covenant name, appears 3 times (Numbers 6:24-26).
• 3 times the Seraphim cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" (Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8).
• After the Great Flood mankind descended from the 3 sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
• 3 "men" announced to Abraham that his barren wife would bear a son (Genesis 18:14).
• Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son after a 3-day journey to Mt. Moriah (Genesis 22:1-4).
• Baby Moses was hidden by his mother for 3 months (Exodus 2:1), and the adult Moses requests of Pharaoh that he let Moses take his people on a 3 day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to their God (Exodus 3:18).
• There were 3 divisions of the desert Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies (Exodus 27:9; 26:1-30, 35-37; 31-34; 38:9-20; 21-31; 40:1-33; 1 Kings 6:1-37).
• The Theophany at Sinai was on the 3^rd day after the people arrived.
• God is mentioned 3 times in the Shema (the first profession of faith in Deuteronomy 6:4) and 3 times in the blessing in Numbers 23:24.
• There are 3 attributes of God mentioned in Exodus 33:18-19: hen, rachum, and hesed (gracious, compassionate /merciful, and loving kindness).
• Of the 7 Holy Feasts of the Sinai Covenant, 3 are pilgrim feasts in which every man 13 years or older must present himself before God at the Temple in Jerusalem (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:18-23; Deuteronomy 16:5-17; 2 Chronicles 8:13).
• Jonah spent 3 days in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 1:17); Jonah took a 3 day journey across the city of Nineveh (Jonah 3:3)

 In the New Testament:

 

• Jesus' ministry covered 3 Passovers (John 2:14, 6:4; 12:1).
• Mary stayed with Elizabeth about 3 months (Luke 1:56).
• Jesus was missing for 3 days when He was twelve years old (Luke 2:46).
• Jesus took 3 men, Peter, James and John, up on the Mt. of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1; Mark 2; Luke 9:28).
• Jesus prophesized that He would arise from the dead on the 3rd day (Matthew 16:21: 17:23; 20:19; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33).
• Saul was blinded for 3 days (Acts 9:9).
• There are 3 theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity (1 Corinthians 13:13).
• The heavenly Jerusalem has 3 gates on each of its four sides (Revelation 21:13)
• Christians saw 3 as symbolic of the Trinity, the triune nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20).
• 3 is also recognized as the number of the Holy Spirit. 

There were a few in there that I hadn’t even thought of, like Jesus’ ministry covering three Passovers, the three gates on each side of the new Jerusalem, Saul being blind for three days... And of course, even the number 3 applying to the Trinity! (That was a huge Duhhhh! And forehead slap for me, lol!)

Here are a couple more nuggets from that website:

“In the symbolic language of the Bible, a three day period points to an act of divine intervention which impacts Salvation History…

…It was after the third day that Pharaoh's cupbearer was restored to his former position as Joseph had prophesized in Genesis 40:12-23.  Another reference to restoration on the third day is found in Hosea 6:1-2 where Yahweh tells His prophet a time will come when His covenant people will acknowledge their sins and seek redemption and restoration, as they cry out Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.“

I also remembered an Oswald reference of the “third day”:

February 7

Spiritual Dejection - Luke 24:21

“…but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.”

Every fact that the disciples stated was right, but the conclusions they drew from those facts were wrong… What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today "the third day" and He has still not done what I expected?... The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer…

…One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.  (if you want to read the whole thing you can see it here: The Discipline Of Dejection)

This is one of my favorites from Oswald, reminding me that God is fully aware and at work in my life and the everyday events that I am involved with. And instead of worrying, stressing out, or trying to “fix” things myself, I can have confidence that God is aware and already has a solution and provision ready and prepared for me. And instead of seeking an “answer” I need to seek GOD Himself, who gives the answer. This is most certainly a process as we continue our individual journeys to know God!

This was a very eye opening research topic for me and I learned a lot! Who knew how interesting and important the number 3 was!!? I hope it was for you too! God is SO BIG sometimes we just can’t see Him in all of His glory and intricate detail… we seem to always be looking in the wrong direction or place. These scriptures remind me how faithful, loving and compassionate He is and that I can rest in the knowledge that He has my back, no matter what things look like.

So, are you need of some divine intervention, salvation or restoration in some way? Is it the THIRD day for you (or third month or third year), and you are wondering where He is? I hope this blog gave you some encouragement and hope to hang in there and continue to have faith in His perfect way and timing. He is fully aware of your circumstances and He has compassion for you!! He is right there, ready and willing to help you. So, seek His face and He will redeem you from your circumstances… Your third day redemption is near!

Father, thank you so much for continuing to reveal Yourself to me as I seek You with my whole heart. Thank you that You are such a loving and caring God and that nothing escapes Your notice. Please help me to be patient and trusting as I surrender my life and plans daily to You.