If we had Known... part 1

      If we had only known...Could we, an ordinary family with mortal human eyes, have seen as God sees—the end from the beginning; could we have known what God knows—the outcome and fulfillment of His will; could we have thought as God thinks—higher than our highest thought; we would not have had it any other way. The same God who in infinite wisdom permitted Joseph to be sent to a strange country, who allowed Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to be carried away to Babylon, who ordered the footsteps of Abraham—though he knew not where he went, still works in the affairs of His children. That same God cares for the fulfillment of the deepest desires and inmost longings of the heart of His children. That same God ordains that we should first find in Him the satisfaction of our hopes, the quenching of our thirst, the desire of our hearts, and then He will give above, beyond our wildest imaginations. 

      My heart is full. How can God be so good? He has led. He has chastened. He has guided. He has shown Himself in ways we heretofore had not known. Just as He cares for each sparrow chirping in the bushes, He cares even for us. Through darkness, God walks with us, showing us where to step. Through testing, He is there beside us to strengthen our hand. Through bewilderment at His goodness, He blesses us even more, even more than we can know. How can God be so good?

      The plan of the all-knowing God encompasses more than where we are to move next, what we are to do next, what our next work for Him is to be. He sees beyond the immediate, beyond the affairs of this life, even to the life to come. At the same time our loving Heavenly Father cares for the desires of our hearts. His plan makes no mistakes. His hand does not let go. Even when we know it not, God is working out the best possible way for us. It is beyond our human insight to comprehend the love and unfailing care that God has toward us. Again I say, had we only known...