The Lord Will Provide
Hebrews 13:5- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Paul learned to be content with what he had, which is remarkable since he had so little. He had a jail cell instead of a house. He had four walls instead of the mission field. He had chains instead of jewelry, a guard instead of a wife. How could he be so content? Simple. He focused on a different list: He had eternal life. He had the love of God. He had forgiveness of sins. He had the surety of salvation. He had Christ, and Christ was enough. What he had in Christ was far greater that what he didn't have in life.
In 55 days I will journey around the world to a country I've never been to, with a language I've never spoken, to do things I've never done. I will leave everything I've ever known, with no promise or returning. How can I do this? All I can say is...it's all Jesus! I'm learning to be content in the waiting because Christ is enough. If I'm honest...waiting is really really hard. Sharing His hope with the hopeless families in the Philippines will be worth it. Hard, no doubt, but trusting that Christ is enough and will carry me through, I can be content where He places me.
I sent my visa application and passport to the Philippine Embassy in New York City 3 weeks ago, and I still haven't heard whether its been accepted...and I have no idea where my passport is. I eagerly check the mail each day, waiting for my passport to be back in my hands so that I can make sure its safe. All I can do is to trust that The Lord Will Provide.
I recently started re-reading the book "Daring To Hope" by Katie Davis Majors (excellent book), and she challenged me to study Elijah and the poverty-stricken widow in 1 Kings 17. God sent Elijah to Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. When Elijah arrived he saw a widow gathering sticks. The widow told Elijah that she was gathering sticks to make a fire so that her and her son could eat their last meal and then die. Elijah told her to make bread for him first.
She did exactly what he said, though it made absolutely no sense, though she had absolutely nothing left to give. She had lost hope. Her eyes were on the barrel and the little oil instead of on the Lord. If we put our faith in God, He will never fail us. In this story Elijah was standing before her as Gods representative, teaching her to put God first. First, trust. First, give all you have. The Lord Will Provide. Elijah was able to tell the widow that because God said He would provide...that He really would provide! Isn't that amazing?
Elijah told a poverty-stricken widow to make him bread first because He knew the power of the Lord and he knew that where there is faith, Gods provisions never fail.
Are you wondering how the Lord will provide? Whether its as simple as a missing passport or as life-threatening as having no food left and accepting the fact that you and your son will die, The Lord Will Provide. As believers we can be confident of this truth.
"It is a bold claim, to look up at your mountain, to look out over the dry, cracked places and the broken places, outcomes yet unknown, and call the place The Lord Will Provide, to believe that He will provide when we cannot yet see how. But perhaps that was the offering He was looking for in the first place. Just the believing. Just the hoping. Just the trusting. Just that our hearts would say, would truly know that 'God will provide the lamb, my son.' Because He did. And He does." -Katie Davis Majors