01/09/2024
The title of the devotional message I read this morning was "Today's Manna" and in it E.M. Bounds spoke of praying for today's needs and trusting in God to provide for tomorrow. Bounds makes the statement that "The present is ours; the future belongs to God"
It is so easy to say, and pray, words such as these but they are very hard to live out. For our opening bible verse today let’s turn to Isaiah 26:3 and read:
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Isaiah 26:3 KJV
This verse reveals the key to gathering peace in God's provision... through trust. Bounds says we should pray with that same trust... Pray for today's needs and desires and leave tomorrow's concerns to God. It is our nature as humans to look ahead, and, because it is also in our nature to do everything ourselves, that brings with it a full dose of worry. One of the hardest things for us to do is trust; to trust one another; to trust our government; and yes... To trust fully in God. Yet, this is exactly what God is telling us to do!
One of the first tenets that an addict learns is a simple phrase "Let go, Let God", my, how simple that sounds, but it isn't. Interestingly enough, the more distraught and desperate we become; the easier it is to trust completely in God. It has also been my experience that once God has interceded, answered the desperate prayers, fixed whatever problem was tormenting us... We are apt to forget about the pain, claim personal credit for the solution, and forget the very trust that saved us. Have you found yourself doing that?
Isaiah uses the analogy of childbirth to illustrate this:
“Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.”
Isaiah 26:16-18 KJV
Interestingly, I have never known a woman who, in the midst of childbirth or shortly thereafter, looked at her husband and said "WOW Honey! Let's do this again!" It takes a while for time and the joy of the new child to overcome that memory... But it does.
Prayer and the Trust in God to provide is much the same way. At the moment of travail when He provides, we are certain that we will always trust in Him... Then time passes and things settle down in our lives. Slowly we begin to convince ourselves that we must have provided the solution.
So how do we overcome this natural inclination to deceive ourselves into believing we are in control and that we don't need to trust in God completely? Well, our scripture gives us the answer... we must stay our mind on God! If we dwell on His Word and pray without ceasing we will never forget who provides for us and in whom we trust. We must concentrate on Him and deny ourselves forgetfulness.
So, let's keep Him forefront in our hearts, minds, and prayers; let's concentrate our prayers on today and trust in His provision for tomorrow. Our God is beyond great and His ability to provide for us is perfect and dependable... Trustworthy in every way.
Prayer:
Father Thank you for the manna you have provided us today, and for giving us the promise of more tomorrow. Thank you for the certainty of it, and for the faith we have that allows us to trust in all you say. There was no doubt in the voice of Jesus when he raised the ruler’s daughter from her deathbed, the widow’s son from his death bier, and as he called his friend Lazarus from the house where he had been dead for four days. Give us a faith like this Lord, and take away even the faintest whisper of doubt as we rise up to receive our morning provision from you. You are a miracle worker, a healer, and the answer to every prayer. Holy, Holy, Holy are you our God who was, and is, and is to come. You often work in secret as you make provision for us, but when you openly perform miracles the world praises you and sings joyfully of your glory, while all heaven stands still in hushed wonder. Hear our prayers Holy Father, and never let your response to them fade from our sight, or leave our steadfast belief in them. You are the miracle worker, and your Son Jesus the greatest miracle of all… He is the answer to every prayer that has ever prayed. In him was, is, and is to come. You are the summation of all prayer, and the amazing giver of grace and eternity.
Rich Forbes