06/09/2022
The Lord provides for His children. Do you believe this, I mean REALLY believe this? Saying such a thing is easy when we are surrounded by the things we need, but when we are facing a time of war or famine, when we can’t see where our next meal is coming from, or drought is upon us and our mouth is parched… do we trust the Lord in such times? Are we certain of His provision? Do we listen faithfully for the sound of raven wings as they bring us sustenance, or the gushing sound as the staff of Moses draws water from the rock?
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:3-4 ESV
Many scriptures speak to us about trusting in the Lord, and each time they give us some instruction regarding how we are to do this. I like this particular verse from Psalm 37 because it tells us that wherever we happen to be we should do good, be faithful, and take up residence there. We don’t have to go on a quest like the crusaders once did, no, God meets us right where we are, and He tells us that if we practice our faith, and do His will, that He will give us what we desire right where we are.
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
Psalm 37:5-6 ESV
There are three things that are vitally important when it comes to our everyday life, and moving successfully through it. The first of them is to trust in the Lord, the second is to remain committed to Him, and the third is to believe He will act. If we can do these things we will not be burdened by worry, but will remain at peace, and our Heavenly Father will provide for us. It is interesting to consider these ingredients because they sound very close to being a definition of faith, and tell us how we can remain joyful in it. Are these attributes that we find in our own lives?
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Finally, when we have settled into whatever place we find ourselves to be in, and have established our trust in God, our faithfulness, and doing good, we will receive not only what we need, but those things we desire. Interestingly enough though, when we have come through times of little we find that we have become content with what we have.
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:11-13 ESV
I attended the Virginia Military Institute in the early 1970s, and it was a Spartan existence. We lived in concrete rooms with one sink, no air conditioning, no other creature comforts, and we roomed with up to four other men per room. The rooms were so small that our beds were wooden folding cots and we had to break them down every morning and stand them against the wall so that we could move about. This was quite an adjustment for young men who were raised with much more, and were accustomed to plenty of space, thick mattresses, and “All the comforts of home!” But after living this way for a while, and being physically and mentally challenged for months, and then years, I found that I didn’t need what I once thought of as necessities. As a matter of fact, many of the men who underwent this structured minimalist life of hardship, and borderline suffering, took their meager bedding, and straight back wooden chair, with them after graduation and continued to sleep, and sit, on them… even when given the opportunity to live in comparable luxury they preferred less.
To this day I actually need very little… even though I provide much more for my family. Our needs of faith are like this. We might begin our walk with the Lord desiring money, fame, power, and every comfort imaginable, but after studying the life of Jesus, and seeing His lack of possessions, and feeling the suffering He endured, we soon begin to want the bare necessities of life, and faith… we begin to treasure such things as love, trust, humility, forgiveness, and the other attributes of Christ that have nothing to do with wealth or possessions. Oh, those earthly things are nice, but they fall from our prayers and are replaced by the others like peace, joy, rest, and obedience.
So we judge the maturity of our faith by asking ourselves what our needs REALLY are now, and what it is that we pray for. We might strive to give our children what they desire, just as God does for us, but we hope, and pray, that their needs will eventually be rendered down to a thick rue, or the gravy of an intensely flavored faith. Let’s ask ourselves today… how much more time and heat is needed before the watery mixture of our newly acquired faith will become the rich thick faith of a mature Christian?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus who came into this world as a carpenter, and not a king, nor a man of prestige or position. Thank you for the life He led that has taught us what we REALLY need as we journey towards eternity with you. Help us Father to embrace the spiritual, and cast off the earthly treasures that we once valued. Help us to believe in the loving spirit you are, and not in an image we have made in our minds, or by our hands. Teach us to thank and praise you for who you are molding us to be inside, and not for what you provide us for our physical selves. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who we worship in spirit and truth. Praised be your name, not for our earthly desires that we have prayed for, but for those we have cast off, and found to be of little spiritual value. Merciful are you who reduces our burden, and allows us to travel the way with a burden that is light, and with a faith that bears us up on the wings of eagles. Help us Lord to glorify you always by exercising our rich and enduring belief in you. Wash us in the blood of your Son Jesus who was born, lived, suffered, died, and was resurrected to lift the burden of sin from us, and to conquer death so that we can spend eternity with you. Transform us Lord from creatures who desire all the comforts of the world, into saints who sleep on sheepskins, and humbly wash the feet of others. See Jesus in us as we stand before you in judgement, and call us your friends and children. Usher us to your table and seat us there for all eternity… serve us with your Word, and give us living water to drink. In this way your grace is complete and has glorified you in us, through Jesus, and before all creation.
Rich Forbes