Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.

“Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,  before ye ask Him.” — Christ Jesus

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This quote, which Mary Baker Eddy uses as an epigraph to the first  chapter of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, was  recently beautifully illustrated to my husband and me.

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We decided to go out for brunch in a small urban village that has a  variety of independent shops, as well as lovely coffee shops. I dropped my husband off and drove round to find a parking place.  On my second circuit I saw a man indicating a parking place, so I  gratefully used it. When I got out and thanked him, he said, “You  are right by the pay machine, too.” I was going to use the parking  app on my phone, but he told me that it wasn’t working so I would  need to use my debit card.
As I was beginning to enter all the details into the machine, I  suddenly became aware that the man was right behind me. Then he  began to talk to me, flapping a piece of paper close to my face. As I  turned to ask him to step back, he nudged me away, took my card  out of the machine, and ran off down the busy street with another  man.

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My immediate reaction was to shout—extremely loudly—that he had  taken my card. However, within seconds, a young man dressed in  running clothes dropped a large a large bag of cat litter by my feet,  told me to look after it, then sprinted off in pursuit. I watched him  disappear down the road, but the men with my card got away in a  car before he reached them. The young man then stepped into the  road, flagged down a passing car, got in, and it drove off.

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I found myself in a complete daze, as this incident had only taken a  couple of minutes. Immediately people came forward to offer help, and someone kindly found the number for my bank so I could stop  my card being used.

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The young man and the driver who gave pursuit and came back  after about twenty minutes. They had been able to follow the car for  a while, but then they lost sight of it along the busy roads.  Someone else came with them who had all the details about the  getaway car. They even called the police for us.
To say I was grateful is an understatement. The outstanding  expressions of love, unselfishness, and genuine care for us were  incredible. At every step our needs were met, and as we left to go  home these words from the Bible came to me: “The Lord shall  preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and  even for evermore” (Psalms 121:8).

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However, as the day progressed, I began to feel very unsettled. I felt I should have been more alert to the situation. Vulnerability, “being a target,” and part of my identity being stolen, were aspects  that were particularly troubling.

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I needed to restore my sense of peace and equilibrium. As a  Christian Scientist I turned to God to find comfort and guidance.  Over the next few days, I found many inspiring ideas. I affirmed  that as a spiritual child of God, my true identity was intact and  untouched. Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health, “The  Divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star,  as distinct and eternal” (70).

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I reasoned that, as God supplies only good, it can never be taken  away from us. Honesty is a God given quality, and no event can  change the purity that we all possess.
The subject of the Bible Lesson that week was “Love,” and it  sustained and strengthened me in so many ways. It clearly showed me that “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every  human need” (SH 494).

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My human needs that Saturday were considerable, but, looking  back, every single aspect was immediately and lovingly taken care  of by people I had never met. They all expressed generosity and  love in the most unselfish ways. At every step there was someone  to help. In writing this testimony, I suddenly realised that at no  point at all was any criticism, anger, or negativity expressed by  anyone about the men who took my card.  

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“The Lord will hear before we call,  
And every need supply;  
Good things are freely given to all  
Who on His word rely.  
We come today to bring Him praise  
Not for such gifts alone,  
But for the higher, deeper ways  
In which His love is shown.”
(Hymn 342)

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I share this experience with deep gratitude that God did hear before  I called, and more than supplied my every need!