Blue Schwinn Bicycle

 The adorable five year-old girl on the blue Schwinn bicycle, Tracy Duncan, is now an awesome wife of Zac Duncan and mother of our two precious grandsons, Colton and Carson. God sees the end from the beginning, He knew the day we took the photograph of her waiting to ride her blue Schwinn bicycle in the Fourth of July parade in Sebring, Florida, all of the plans, the hope, and the future He had waiting for her and our family. 

I am constantly amazed by the many ways God uses His word, His Holy Spirit, and prayer to draw us like a magnet to Jesus Christ and His will for our lives. Recently, God used the memory of a passage in the Bible study, Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby, and this photograph of our daughter on her blue Schwinn bicycle to remind me of His sovereignty and His great grace.

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From Experiencing God: "For his sixth birthday, my oldest son Richard was old enough to have a bicycle. I looked all around for a bicycle. I found a blue Schwinn. I bought it and hid it in the garage. Then I had a task—to convince Richard that he needed a blue Schwinn bike. For the next little while, we began to work with Richard. Richard decided that what he really wanted for his birthday was a blue Schwinn bike. Do you know what Richard got? Well, the bike was already in the garage. I just had to convince him to ask for it. He asked for it, and he got it! What happens when you pray? The Holy Spirit knows what God has "in the garage." It is already there. The Holy Spirit's task is to get you to want it—to get you to ask for it. What will happen when you ask for things God already wants to give or do? You will always receive it. Why? Because you have asked according to the will of God. When God answers your prayer, He gets the glory and your faith is increased."

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Trusting Him, my daily prayer has become, “Lord Jesus, I trust You, You know what You’re doing…"

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We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have—for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn't happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently.—Romans 8:24-25 TLB

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It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.—Philippians 2:13

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The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.—Romans 8:26-27

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I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.—Jeremiah 29:11

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I approach the Throne of Grace with confidence in prayer, I picture Jesus, my Good, Good Shepherd, in the green pasture of the 23rd Psalm. I take whatever concern I have, or person for whom I am interceding by the hand. I walk out to the meadow, the green pasture, and I place my concern, or the hand of the person for whom I am interceding, in Jesus’ hand—knowing that He is sovereign, He loves me, and He loves the person for whom I am interceding more than I do. He has a plan, a hope, and a future for each of us. I walk away, thanking God for how He is at work in my life and in the lives of those for whom I am interceding. I experience His peace. Praying as Catherine Marshall prayed, “Lord Jesus, I trust You, You know what You’re doing, I relinquish my will to Yours.”

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Thank you, Lord Jesus, for kindling these wonderful words of hope in my heart . . . We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently . . . I am trusting You . . . In Your precious Name Above All Names I pray, amen.

Look up – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25 Pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

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Look in – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25  Pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: “Because God is ______________, I will ______________.”

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Look out – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25   Pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.