God gives good gifts to his children. He takes care
of their needs. Always. Granted, sometimes what we THINK we need is very
different from what God KNOWS we need. But God never neglects his children. I
know this because he promises it to me in His Word, and he has never broken a
promise.
In Philippians 4 the apostle Paul is commending
the church in Philippi for their sacrificial giving. He then goes on to say,
“And my God
will supply every need of yours
according to
the riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (vs. 19)
God will not let his child be in want because he
or she gave sacrificially at another time. He supplies the needs of those who
honor him.
In Matthew 6 Jesus exhorts us to be concerned not
with worldly treasure but to instead focus on heavenly treasures:
“Do not lay
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break
in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where
neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in
and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (vs. 19-21)
Personally, I’m tempted to be a hoarder with my
money… save! save! save! I tend to pinch my pennies and am very slow to spend
them. Not that it is all bad to be a saver. It definitely has its virtues. But
it also can really impede your ability to give freely and easily. And also,
from my experience, when times get tough and money is tight, it is very easy to
take on the mindset of, “Oh no! Money is low! I need to do this, and this, and
this! And scrimp here, and save there, and cut my giving ministry there…” And
that’s where it starts to really go downhill. I’m no longer mentally able to
let go of what was never really mine to begin with. I have started to put my
trust in my financial means instead of the Lord. And when I put my trust in
earthly things I automatically start to worry.
It’s almost like Jesus knew that people would have
this thought process! (I’m being sarcastic here… of course he knows our thought
processes.) Which is why it is so helpful and encouraging to read these words a
little further on in Matthew 6:
“Therefore
do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or
‘What shall
we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the
Gentiles
seek after all these things, and your heavenly
Father
knows that you need them all.” (vs. 31 and 32)
Our Father KNOWS our needs. You know what one of the
best parts of our heavenly Father’s knowledge? That it is more than just a head
knowledge. Our Father knows what are problems are and what is needed to solve
them. In fact he knows each problem before it arrives AND has it solved for us
before we are even faced with it! Basically, it takes away every reason for us
to worry.
Jesus Christ goes on to tell us how to talk to our
Father about our problems. We are to ask him to solve them for us! Matthew 7:11
says,
“If you
then, who are evil, know how to give good
gifts to
your children, how much more will your Father
who is in
heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Okay folks, God knows our needs. He knows how to
solve them. He has the solution all ready to go before we even know we need a
solution. But he STILL delights in being asked. And we should find joy in
asking because it should remind us that he is ready, and able, and willing to
give.
In Luke 12:24 we are given another reason not to
worry:
“Consider
the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have
Neither storehouse
nor barn, and yet God feeds them.
Oh how much
more value are you than the birds!”
There really is no reason for us to worry. God
cares for his other creatures very well. They survive and are very happy little
creatures. They glorify God just by being alive and are a testament to his
faithfulness. How much more will he care for us since we are made in His very
own image? How much more since his Son DIED to give us life? What is it saying
about our faith when we trust our own barns and storehouses (aka: banks
accounts and insurances) more than the God-man who came to die for us… I mean,
he DIED for us! Why am I worried again?
A little later in Matthew 11 we are told,
“Come to
me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from
me, for I
am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (vs. 28-30)
I find it so tempting to carry around my own
one-person yoke. I want to do it all. I want to plan it out, control all the
variables, create a financial plan that is so detailed and exact and then expect
it to play out exactly the way I have planned it. And then I start to worry…
What if something goes wrong? What if I miscalculated (afterall, math really
isn’t my strong point)? What if something unexpected comes up and messes up my plan, or worse,
throws the whole plan completely out of the picture???
You see, for a planner and a perfectionist like me
worry is a huge temptation. I NEED to just give Christ my burden, take his
yoke, ask the Father to supply for my needs, and then run so as to win the
race.
Please pray for me. I’m being tempted to worry a
lot right now. Moving is expensive… kind of more expensive than I was
expecting. I was really relying on my own means and thinking that if I just
constructed a concrete, foolproof plan I would be able to just glide through.
But little things keep popping up and as these little things were NOT a part of
my plan I can feel my mind starting to wander and worry.
But
I don’t want to worry.
I
just want to trust my God.
Because
in the end, trusting is so much sweeter and wonderful than worrying.
Please
friends, please pray for me.
Pray
that I will trust.
“I am
trusting thee to guide me;
Thou alone
shalt lead;
Every day
and hour supplying
All my
need.”
-Frances R.
Havergal
