Just what we need

We had weeks of the prettiest fall days you could imagine. Then suddenly it turned cold and windy. As I get out of my car and start walking across the parking lot, I realize just how chilly it is. I turn my collar up to try to block some of the wind, and I shove my hands into my pockets.

But my hands hit something. They won’t go inside. I realize there is a glove in each pocket, long forgotten and left behind from last winter.

It’s better than finding a $20 bill.

I pull the gloves out and slide them onto my hands. They’re snug and comfortable, made for me and for this moment. Immediately I feel better about my walk on this blustery day.

As the leaves swirl around me, I marvel at how the gloves have sat unneeded for so many months—only to be discovered now. A more organized person would have emptied their coat pockets on a warm spring day, but I have no regrets. The gloves are just what I needed to keep the chill away.

It reminds me of how lovingly God takes care of each of us.

So many times, I realize God has seen my need before I do—and met it. I go to make dinner, thinking we don’t have much on hand, and somehow there’s a meal to make in the freezer and the pantry. Someone asks me an impossible question that I know I can’t answer, and suddenly I have an idea.

It doesn’t always happen, but it happens more than you might think. I’m grateful to be loved by God in that way, and to know he provides. He gives us our daily bread. He sees us in the big ways and the small ways. God doesn’t call the prepared; he prepares the called, as the saying goes. Somehow, he prepares us for what we take on every day.

How often do we suddenly reach into our pockets—into ourselves—and find we have just what we need? God helps us navigate so many challenges in life, giving us the words for a particular situation, helping us bring peace and care to a frustrating moment, nudging us to approach life with clarity, patience, and grace we didn’t know we had.

And he knows I need gloves on a chilly day.

I hope God will give you what you need today—even before you realize you need it.

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