“He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?” -Romans 8:32

I read a devotional from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the story went something like this.  Two friends were participating in an urban scavenger hunt-style race. The goal was to solve 12 challenges faster than any other team.  Each challenge consisted of solving a riddle, getting to the solution (by foot or public transportation only), and taking a photo.

As they made their way through the city streets, they found that their gear was generating great conversations with strangers.  Hours into the race, they were on their way to accomplishing the last challenge—what they thought was to take a photo of them doing the Hula with a prop.   As believers, they knew that, if God wanted to, He could bring someone in a grass skirt to them!  Yes, it was a silly race, but they knew without a doubt that God was powerful enough to do anything.

Eventually, they ended up finding a prop, taking a photo, and heading for the finish line.  Upon arrival, the race director began confirming their finds. To their surprise, he asked them where the photo was of them doing the limbo. Confused, they replied, “Limbo?  We thought we needed to do the hula!”  He explained that their solution to that riddle was wrong, and that the limbo was the known Hawaiian dance originally from Trinidad.

They looked at each other and laughed. You see, they had been looking for God to bring them what they thought was needed (a grass skirt and the hula dance) and had missed God’s PERFECT provision of what was really needed.   In fact, they had actually walked by a family of four randomly doing the limbo under a chain in an empty parking lot about 20 minutes prior to finishing the race!

What a great reminder for us all.  In our human minds, we often think we know what we need and we go about pursuing it relentlessly.   But do we ever stop to ask God if that’s really what we should be doing?  He is the One with the perfect plan—the answers to all of our riddles in life.  It is only when we are seeking His wisdom and truly asking Him for direction that will we find what we really need.