God Knows Your Deepest Need

This is an excerpt from Larger Window by Devern Fromke

We are not told why, but for months he had planned to murder the Queen. Slipping undetected into her bedroom, he hid in the mammoth walnut wardrobe. Covered by a velvet gown inside, he rehearsed his plan once more. He would know when the Queen had retired, because her maid-in-waiting would bid her goodnight and leave her room.

There was a crack in the wardrobe door which kept him from suffocating among the thicknesses of her gowns. Through it, he would be able to see when the Queen blew out the candle beside her bed. He would listen for her breathing to change, slip out quietly in his stocking feet, walk to the bed, and rid England of her Queen.

The rehearsing of his plan put him at ease. He leaned back inside the boards of the ornately carved wardrobe to wait. It could be some time before the Queen would enter the room to retire.

Then suddenly the door of the wardrobe opened and a huge hand, fingers spread open wide touched him. The groping hand  immediately grabbed him by the shirt. In all of his planning the assassin had forgotten one thing: the Queen’s room was thoroughly searched each night before she went to bed. As he was wrenched from seclusion, he dropped to his knees and began to plead with the Queen that she might extend grace to him.

“Sir, if I extend unto you my grace, what do you promise for the future?”

With the keenness of a theologian, the man answered, “Your Majesty, your Majesty, a grace that propositions and a grace that bargains is no grace at all!”

Queen Elizabeth recognized the truth of the man’s bold response. She announced, “Yes, freely, by my grace, I forgive you.”

Such grace freely given to the unworthy and undeserving often has the desired effect: it not only won him, but conquered his heart. From that moment the would-be assassin became the  most devoted servant the Queen ever had.

We are not told why this disgruntled man determined to murder his Queen. We only know that through her guidance and grace, she had uncovered his deepest need and led him to a new purpose for living.

I would like to believe that Queen Elizabeth understood man’s deepest need when she wanted a promise for his future. Her growth in wisdom had convinced her that every man needed some purpose bigger than himself to which he could give himself. Also the wise Queen knew that grace and purpose should never be separated.

History seems to indicate that Elizabeth was one of England’s  wisest and most godly Queens. If she knew her Bible, and we believe she did, she understood what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote:

“God called each of us with a holy calling.”
“We are the called according to His purpose and grace.”

Of course, Queen Elizabeth could only offer this servant an extension of temporal life, while our God alone can offer us eternal life in Christ Jesus.

From this story I wish to introduce the main thesis of this book: All of us need forgiveness because we have (like Adam in the garden) turned to our own way... we are sinners. We have already considered how God offered forgiveness to Millie when she called, to the young banker when he bowed in repentance, and now forgiveness was granted to this assassin. This is God’s amazing grace and goodness.

From the beginning God planned a way to rescue man from his fallen, sinful condition. As we see in the picture, it was God’s intention that Adam would move along the race-course to fulfill the purpose God planned. In no way did God plan for Adam to turn (in rebellion) to his own way, yet He knew that in granting freedom of choice to man, the potential for disobedience was there.

God knew (in His foreknowledge) what Adam would do. So the redemptive plan was incorporated from the beginning. Let no one assume that God was caught off-guard by Adam’s wrong choice. We read about God’s provision: the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” He had a rescue plan already in place.  Through the death of His Son, Jesus, God would redeem man, and bring him back to the race-course so Adam could fulfill the original purpose of God.

Our great concern, as the title of this book reveals, is that often the religious world has left man in the small redemptive window, where he becomes mostly preoccupied with his own needs, and what God must do for him. Man thus ignores or has never recognized the larger window of God’s purpose: what we do or become for Him.

In these past 40 years, many who have read our earlier books (where this theme is more fully considered) have expressed their amazement at the man-centered-ness of Christendom today. We do rejoice in having a small part in this awakening to God-centered-ness.

God’s amazing grace must ever be magnified, but it must never be separated from His eternal purpose in Christ, as the wise Queen realized. Extending grace must lead to uncovering of man’s deepest need, and finding and fulfilling the original purpose for his being.

We have pictured Adam standing at a gateway of choice: either to go God’s way or to go his own way. From the beginning it was God’s plan for Adam (and all mankind) to yield to God for fulfilling His purpose; thus Adam would be sustained by a divine life-union with God. It seems evident that the Source for that life-union was available to man in the garden, as represented by the Tree of Life. This would be the only Life-Source by which Adam could run the race and fulfill God’s purpose. While Adam never did eat of that Tree of Life, no doubt he could have eaten, once the issue of committing himself to God for His purposes had been settled.

Here was the critical issue: Adam was either to live... (dependently) by the Tree of Life, or to live (independently) by eating of the tree of knowledge

FATHER, I hear You saying to me: “My child, You must lay aside all your own purposes if you would live for My Purpose.” My heart responds:”Yes, I am willing that Your Purpose shall be my only purpose.” Then I hear Your response: “My full supply of GRACE will always be available for THAT PURPOSE.” Thank You, Father!