God has greatly encouraged me the past few days with loving words from dear friends (some of whom have been in my life a long time and others fairly recently) and I was inspired to be able to pass along this nugget from my walk today. I was sensing in my heart as I praised God to pray out the "Lord's Prayer" from Luke 11...but I couldn't really get passed verse 3...."Give us this day our daily bread". Give us "today" what we need "today"...not next week's bread or even tomorrow's. But only today's. Hhmmm...reminds me of the children of Israel and the manna (see Exodus 16 for that little adventure). I reflected on the times when God told us in His Word not to worry about tomorrow- He would provide TODAY.
Jesus sent out John and his eleven friends in Luke 9 and told them to take nothing with them.....they would be provided for. A short time later, Jesus appointed seventy-two others and again, told them not to take a purse, bag or sandals. That's a lot of guests to come through your towns with no food or housing plans. Yet I don't see them returning to Jesus saying "Okay, Lord, things went well, but we are really hungry and need a bed." Throughout the entire New Testament you see evidence (even with Paul's travels) the followers of Jesus were sent out and told to depend on the Father.
Two thousand years later, we live in a world where we have insurance policies, savings accounts, nest eggs, CD's, government programs and retirement funds to secure our future days. I am not saying those are not good things to have but I think we lose something in completely relying on those things to take care of us. The wisest man who ever lived told us in Proverbs 6 "to consider the ant and be wise...store up your provisions in summer and gather your food at harvest". God wants us to be good stewards of the blessings He pours into our lives. But I believe more importantly He wants us to realize deep down in the depths of our being WHO is the One we should be trusting to be our Provider.
Several years ago when our family lived in Russia during the days immediately following the fall of communism, our "daily bread" was still a bit hard to come by. When something became available, people bought it up to store for winter. So when a truck on the road near our apartment was selling potatoes, I asked my husband to go and buy up what he could. I had three small children to feed and wanted to be sure we were taken care of. We filled two very large trunk-size containers with potatoes and stored them on our cold balcony. It felt good to have that surplus! However, when the first freeze came, unbeknownst to me, the potatoes froze and imagine my surprise when I went out to get a potato and they were all frozen solid and a disgusting black color! Further imagine the soggy, slimy mess when they defrosted :(
Now imagine the humbling of my heart and spirit when I felt the Lord say to me, "this was manna....I will provide for you DAILY....and you will be a testimony to the neighbors and friends around you that God wants to be their Father and take care of them daily. You must live as the people around you...trusting daily for provision." What a freeing moment knowing my Father would take care of us - and being a mom of three small children this was a big deal! My husband once stood in the freezing cold snow for 2-1/2 hours beside a truck selling milk... and when he was finally at the front of the line, the seller took a "break" to sit in the cab of his truck and said he would be back in 1/2 hour. Food was something you paid a big price for and I'm not just talking money here...convenience stores didn't exist in those days. Yet my Father in Heaven wanted to "give us this day our daily bread."
Matthew 6 tells us "not to worry.....look at the birds of the air....your heavenly Father feeds them". Further along in chapter 10 and again in the book of Luke, chapters 2 and 12, Jesus is talking to his disciples before sending them out on that trip where they aren't allowed to take anything..."Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" I recently heard told that in the marketplace of Jerusalem, the favorite and cheapest, least bird of value was the sparrow. They were the easiest to come by. And they were sold 2 for a penny (the smallest coin of least value at that time). They were sold in even numbers. Often four for two cents.... sometimes the seller would throw in a 5th for good measure (the leftover one). So the 5th sparrow was the one with no value....came free. Do you feel sometimes like the 5th sparrow...no value...least deserving....does God really know how I feel?....will He really provide for me in this very scary economy...when I have no job....my husband has been out of work for months....I have children....no savings, no retirement fund????? Do you feel like this at times? Friends, Jesus' very words ring out to us today....
Jesus sent out John and his eleven friends in Luke 9 and told them to take nothing with them.....they would be provided for. A short time later, Jesus appointed seventy-two others and again, told them not to take a purse, bag or sandals. That's a lot of guests to come through your towns with no food or housing plans. Yet I don't see them returning to Jesus saying "Okay, Lord, things went well, but we are really hungry and need a bed." Throughout the entire New Testament you see evidence (even with Paul's travels) the followers of Jesus were sent out and told to depend on the Father.
Two thousand years later, we live in a world where we have insurance policies, savings accounts, nest eggs, CD's, government programs and retirement funds to secure our future days. I am not saying those are not good things to have but I think we lose something in completely relying on those things to take care of us. The wisest man who ever lived told us in Proverbs 6 "to consider the ant and be wise...store up your provisions in summer and gather your food at harvest". God wants us to be good stewards of the blessings He pours into our lives. But I believe more importantly He wants us to realize deep down in the depths of our being WHO is the One we should be trusting to be our Provider.
Several years ago when our family lived in Russia during the days immediately following the fall of communism, our "daily bread" was still a bit hard to come by. When something became available, people bought it up to store for winter. So when a truck on the road near our apartment was selling potatoes, I asked my husband to go and buy up what he could. I had three small children to feed and wanted to be sure we were taken care of. We filled two very large trunk-size containers with potatoes and stored them on our cold balcony. It felt good to have that surplus! However, when the first freeze came, unbeknownst to me, the potatoes froze and imagine my surprise when I went out to get a potato and they were all frozen solid and a disgusting black color! Further imagine the soggy, slimy mess when they defrosted :(
Now imagine the humbling of my heart and spirit when I felt the Lord say to me, "this was manna....I will provide for you DAILY....and you will be a testimony to the neighbors and friends around you that God wants to be their Father and take care of them daily. You must live as the people around you...trusting daily for provision." What a freeing moment knowing my Father would take care of us - and being a mom of three small children this was a big deal! My husband once stood in the freezing cold snow for 2-1/2 hours beside a truck selling milk... and when he was finally at the front of the line, the seller took a "break" to sit in the cab of his truck and said he would be back in 1/2 hour. Food was something you paid a big price for and I'm not just talking money here...convenience stores didn't exist in those days. Yet my Father in Heaven wanted to "give us this day our daily bread."
Matthew 6 tells us "not to worry.....look at the birds of the air....your heavenly Father feeds them". Further along in chapter 10 and again in the book of Luke, chapters 2 and 12, Jesus is talking to his disciples before sending them out on that trip where they aren't allowed to take anything..."Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" I recently heard told that in the marketplace of Jerusalem, the favorite and cheapest, least bird of value was the sparrow. They were the easiest to come by. And they were sold 2 for a penny (the smallest coin of least value at that time). They were sold in even numbers. Often four for two cents.... sometimes the seller would throw in a 5th for good measure (the leftover one). So the 5th sparrow was the one with no value....came free. Do you feel sometimes like the 5th sparrow...no value...least deserving....does God really know how I feel?....will He really provide for me in this very scary economy...when I have no job....my husband has been out of work for months....I have children....no savings, no retirement fund????? Do you feel like this at times? Friends, Jesus' very words ring out to us today....
"Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." He is your Father and will give you your daily bread!
Matthew tells us (have you noticed this book is chock-a-block full of great stuff:) in Chapter 11:30 Jesus again tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden light...in today's (and my) words.......His backpack you are meant to carry is light....if that backpack of worry you are lugging around is causing you to stoop nearly to the ground...take it off! Let go of the worry, hard as that may be, and allow Him to carry it. (maybe even physically fill a backpack with books too heavy for you....carry it for some steps...and then physically take if off your back and tell Your Father to carry it for you :) I love visuals and symbolism.
Okay, I went on far too long today....my heartbeat was if you are finding yourself jobless, the resources are slim and you feel like that 5th sparrow...let HIM provide your DAILY BREAD...don't worry about tomorrow - it will come soon enough and we get to trust again. You know, even when the jobs and resources are there....we still have need to trust in Him! And I think we can all agree we are living in days when we need Someone bigger than our circumstances, economy and government to trust in. A side nugget...when the resource is there...be the ant, collect and store the harvest....the blessing really comes when we collect the harvest, use what we need and give some away....generosity is always blessed by the Father!! And you can NEVER outgive the FATHER!
Let that backpack go...
You are of more value than the birds...
And He will give you your daily bread....
1 comments:
It's so true... we have to trust God ALL THE TIME... in plenty and in want -- because you never know where you will wake up tomorrow. A year and a half ago when the daycare I had been working at closed down and I didn't know what I was going to do... I remember taking a walk and complaining to God and crying and I came across the feathers of a bird, and as I looked at them God put that verse into my heart -- about the sparrows and seeing when one falls...
Sometimes life feels so... confusing and scarey even amongst amazing and good things! Sometimes I feel lonely and like no one knows or understands or cares... and even if that is true -- I need to remember that GOD is the one who is looking out for me and He DOES care. ...I only wonder why it has to be so hard to trust Him, to believe Him...
Now I am rambling...
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