Have you ever really needed something not wanted but truly needed something? I have and I am sure all of us have. But most of the time we just want things. I do not give a second thought to having my daily need of food, shelter, or clothing. I take those for granted. I expect I will always have them. In part I have always lived with a certain amount of assets that give me what I need. So rather than being thankful for what I have, I take it for granted or even expect that I will always have it. In truth, how are my needs taken care of? I would often reply to that question “I earned them by working. Perhaps if I think more deeply, I may come up with a better answer. Let us explore the idea of how our needs are really met from day to day.
How many times have I worried about the future about what will happen or not happen? God does not want us to worry because He is our provider. We are the most valuable part of His creation. “And he [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?’” Luke 12:22-24 (ESV) So, from this I have learned not to sweat the small stuff. I found that to be easy. However, I must admit that I still sweat the big stuff.
I have found though that God even has provision to help me deal with the big stuff which I have found can be different for everyone. For some the big stuff might be where is my next meal coming from or when will I finally get a job after being out of work for many months. In my case it was if, and when, my wife Laura would become well. I found that the Holy Spirit pointed me to Hebrews 12 which starts out, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (ESV)Hebrews 12;1-2 Read it all here. It is passages like this that encourage me to put my life into the hands of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to provide all that I need. Knowing that when I put my life in His hands, I will be fine and that gives me more hope than anything else in this world. If you have not put your life into Jesus’ hands then you can learn how to start here.
So, join me in realizing everything we have comes from God can. Ask God because He will always give us what God knows we need, not want, when we ask for it and that gives us hope. God is the only One who can give us what we need that leads to hope. One day, He will make all things right, give us more than we can imagine, and we live in hope for yourself, then you will also give hope to others by living in God’s provisions. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope and pray that you join me in choosing Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
Soli Deo Gloria
