The Day God Threw a Party!

Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

Have you ever wondered if God cares about the details in your life? I mean the little, seemingly insignificant details? It’s one thing to see the real needs in our lives and bring those before the Throne of Grace, but what about our wants? Our desires? Somehow we tend to feel guilty bringing those before the Savior – as if He can’t be bothered with the little things.

I am learning that our God is all about the details. His eyes “range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) What strengthens your heart more than an outpouring of kindness from the King of kings “just because” He wants you to know that He loves and adores you? Let me tell you about the day that God threw a party…

It was almost our son’s eighth birthday. He was into super heroes and had his sights set on a number of different party supplies. There were the super hero hats and the super hero plates, the super hero napkins, balloons, cake topper, candle holders, party favors… You get the picture. My son really desired these things. In his mind, they were the perfect additions for the perfect party. Me, being much more sensible and frugal, I saw them as cute but unnecessary. If money were no object…maybe… I decided to think about it. After all, we still had a few days before we needed to pick up the supplies for the party and that gave me time to pick and choose what we would purchase.

A few days later, I entered the grocery store with our daughter. We decided to take another look at the party supplies. Wouldn’t you know it if the super hero supplies were totally gone from the party section. Not a single super hero item was left. I thought about Carter being disappointed but there was also part of me that thought “well, I guess God answered that one and didn’t want us to spend the extra money on frivolous extras.” Oh, how wrong I was! A few turns around the grocery isles and we ran smack, dab into a clearance bin FULL of – you guessed it – super hero party supplies! There wasn’t a single supply there that wasn’t from the exact pattern that Carter had picked out and every single item was mere pennies on the dollar of the original price! Nothing was missing. The plates and napkins, balloons, cake topper, candle holders and party favors… exactly what was desired to make the perfect party for 8 eight year old boys!

I was speechless. I could hardly control the surge of emotion that welled up within me. I knew that God had provided these little things – not because we needed them – but because He loves us and wants to give good gifts to His children. Now you may say “that’s merely coincidence” but I know it’s not. Just ask me about the little girl that desperately wanted to wear a gymnastics suit to the birthday party at the gym. A pair of shorts and a t-shirt would have worked just as well but she wanted to be a beautiful gymnast. God knows how the perfectly sized bodysuit in the perfect color was sitting on the neighborhood garage sale table the morning of the party. Why? Because His little girl really wanted one and it gave Him great pleasure to love up on her in that way. Still not convinced? A few months later, when it came time for our daughter’s birthday, she wanted a store-bought cake complete with beautiful blue icing flowers. She couldn’t decide on the flavor. Vanilla or chocolate… This time we prayed on our way into the grocery store. The perfect cake for the perfect price. Wouldn’t you know it? There were two beautiful cakes on the sale rack that day. Both had beautiful blue icing flowers. One was vanilla and the other was chocolate.

Oh let me tell you “how great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

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 7:11 (NIV)