The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease

 There is an old saying… 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Ever heard it? Ever seen it play itself out in your world? 

In my world it plays itself out within the context of my family. One of my kiddos, who shall remain nameless, often asks for things. Things like, time. Things like items at the store. Things like help with things they don’t even really need help with. Basically, just like the meaning of the saying… because said kiddo asks… said kiddo often (and sometimes I think MORE often than our other kiddos) receives. It’s not that this child is favored above the rest, though our kids do enjoy speculating that we have favorites. We, I’m sure falter, but we do work hard to distribute our love and show our love and favor equally among our kids. Nonetheless, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right?! 

As I was thinking about this recently the Holy Spirit reminded me of the scripture from Matthew 7:7-11

7 “Ask and it will be given to you;(E) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;(F) and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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(G) to those who ask him! 

I love this passage because it reminds me of Gods heart for me. I’m definitely aware of how flawed my parenting is. On the daily I see my weaknesses and failures and my need to rely on Gods grace and my kids grace too! But this passage reminds me of how much I long to be a giver of good gifts to my children and if that is my evil hearts longing then how much MORE will my Good God be FOR me and intending good gifts unto me?

Pondering this old saying, I am also reminded of this parable Jesus told from Luke 18.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.(A)2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice(B)against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”(C)

6 And the Lord(D) said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out(E) to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man(F) comes,(G) will he find faith on the earth?”

As I read this passage I feel like Jesus is saying repeatedly, “Look—this judge isn’t even just or good… how much MORE will our Good God hear and respond to our requests?!” But interestingly He finished His story with, “will he find faith on the earth?” I believe one of the quickest ways to test how weak or how STRONG our faith is, is to see what happens to faith in the WAIT! Have you ever been in the wait? I have. And it is SO hard! Like fire burning, waves crashing, rocks sliding— HARD! But friend, let us NOT give up! Let us KEEP 

ASKING

SEEKING

KNOCKING

Let us be the squeaky wheel. But not just that. Let us be squeaky wheels 

FILLED WITH FAITH! 

And when we ask, let us come confidently! Our confidence is that His ear is always inclined toward our hearts! 

1st John 5:14 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 

In closing, as this passage from 1st John encourages us, let us also come to Him in surrender as we ask. I don’t know about you, but in that surrender, I’m reminded WHO I’m surrendered to. To the One who longs to give me good gifts ♥️

I pray you’re blessed even a little bit this morning by these ponderings of my soul. 

-Abi