Are you trusting God to provide exactly what you need?
For about a year, my "service engine soon" and "brake" lights have been lit up on my car (intermittently...they would blink on and off if I went over railroad tracks...so Frank thought there might be a short in the wiring). Every morning as I started up my engine, for the past year, I've asked God to keep my car healthy until we have enough money to get it looked at and/or fixed. I just had my car serviced a few weeks ago and there was some pretty serious repair work that needed to be done. Thankfully, God did keep my car together until we could afford to have it fixed. Now, every morning as I start up my engine, I thank God for watching over me and my car!
Don't get me wrong, warning lights on car dashboards are serious things and there for a reason. If at all possible, you should have your car looked at sooner than later. For us, it happened to be about a year later. I fully believe, trust (thankfully) God kept my car going.
As many of you know, Frank started a new job at the beginning of the year. I, being the planner and budget maker, filled out all these beautiful MS Excel spreadsheets on our monthly obligations and how much money Frank needed to make...for us to make it. We both considered the spreadsheets and did something entirely different than ever before. We prayed about the job and left our finances in God's capable hands.
As I look back over the past 6 months, there is no natural explanation for how we have made ends meet. I fully believe and trust God has provided every time we were in need.
There were moments when either Frank or I would get discouraged...and the encouragement we'd offer to one another was "Trust God. He will provide exactly what we need!" We would pray together (nightly) and leave all of our needs in our capable Father's hands.
I believe many of us have warning lights in our life. They may not be as blatant as a lit dashboard in a car...but they are there, nonetheless. The Holy Spirit is the warning light for the Christian. When we stress over finances, the Holy Spirit lights up and says, "Trust God." When we need food, shelter, broken relationships fixed, a job, etc., the Holy Spirit lights up and says, "Trust God. Ask your Heavenly Father for help. Wait on Him. Trust Him to provide."
Are you relying on God and asking Him to provide every thing you believe you need? Why or why not?
Read on!
| Pray How?: Me Want Food! Posted: 11 Jun 2010 01:00 AM PDT "Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11) It's the only request for anything physical in Jesus' model prayer, and it lands with a thud in our well-fed ears. I doubt many of us have felt the need to ask God for today's food. In fact, it might be more common for us to ask, "Help me not to eat my daily bread so I can lose some weight."
If I didn't think I knew where next month's food was coming from, I'd be on my knees asking God for help. I clearly have different financial and security goals for my life than Jesus' prayer suggests. He assumes we're willing to trust God for our survival one day at a time. Are we?
In another passage, He tells His followers not to worry about food and clothes. God provides for the birds and flowers, He said; He will provide for you. I love these lyrics from Rich Mullins' song "Hard": "Well, His eye's on the sparrow / And the lilies of the field I've heard / And He will watch over you and He will watch over me / So we can dress like flowers and eat like birds."
Think: What percentage of your praying involves asking for material "wants" beyond what you need for today? I think it's cool to talk to God about whatever we want (if we're willing to hear Him say "no"), but can we get out of balance in our asking?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be thankful for all the good gifts He's blessed you with today. Ask Him to help you need Him more than any of them. And then ask Him to help you know how trust Him to meet your needs one day at a time.
Do: Calculate how many days worth of food you have in your house right now.  |
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Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.orghttp://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/
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