The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Ph 4:19)
Praise you, Father, for you give freely and abundantly all we need for every good work in Christ Jesus.
God provides.
We moved to Austin in October 2001. At the time, we had no job and three small children, one of whom was in the womb, so we knew we had some hefty medical bills in front of us. We came because God called us to come.
It was a difficult time financially. Mike worked various temp jobs, a bit as a substitute teacher, and had a spattering of writing gigs. These jobs helped slow down the financial bleeding, but none of them could support a family. We had some savings, but we watched it plummet that first year.
Rebekah was born in that first year, and when she was born, we were looking at three car seats in the back seat of a Mercury Topaz. We bought a larger used car for about $1500. It was all we could afford. A couple months later, the engine blew, and we were back where we started, except $1500 poorer. That was early summer.
In September 2002, everything changed. On Labor Day weekend, someone gave us a van. They didn’t know our financial situation or even our need for a larger car. They just felt that God was telling them to give us a van.
That same month, Harcourt asked Mike to come to San Antonio to receive training on an upcoming project they wanted him to write for. The project turned out to be an enormous one, and Mike suddenly was writing constantly through the end of the year. Pay for the writing always came a month or two after the submission, so around mid-October, we began receiving paychecks, and income for December was about $9000. We tithed, paid our living expenses, and put the rest into our savings.
In January 2003, Leanne looked at our savings balance and compared it to the balance from January 2002 and found that the number was about the same. We went through all that financial uncertainty for a year only to have God replenish our finances in two months.
God provides. That is a basic truth that every Christian must hold onto. We learned it in 2002. I don’t mean that we never struggle with God’s provision today but rather that 2002 was a watershed year for us concerning trusting God to provide.
God provides. The psalmist says he has never seen God’s children lacking bread. Jesus says your heavenly Father knows you need food and clothing, and He will take care of you. After all, He feeds the birds and clothes the lilies. Aren’t you more important than they?
God provides. Many of our problems with money flow from our thinking that we provide for ourselves. We get laid off and don’t see how we can make ends meet because we believe we are our own providers, and we no longer have the means to provide.
But God is our provider, and He has the means even when we don’t. Thus, when we get laid off, our ultimate source of income is still intact. I know it can be hard to see this when the checking account has a two-dollar balance (I’m serious. I know how hard this is), but if God is our Father, we have what we need.
God provides. Jesus had no place to lay His head and had a wardrobe that consisted of one tunic, yet His Father provided. God does not promise us great wealth. He promises that we will have what we need, and the most important things we need are not material. For example, would you rather have peace and joy in the midst of poverty and hunger, or no peace and joy with great riches? Believers who know hunger – for example in North Korea – would tell you that God provides their needs. They don’t eat as we eat, but they rejoice nonetheless. When I say God provides, I am not saying you will be rich. I am not saying you will be free from financial difficulties or other hardships. I am saying simply that you will have enough material goods to rejoice in Christ and do what God calls you to do.
God provides. This truth comes down to trust. You have a surgery and are looking at astronomical medical bills. Can you trust God with them? You believe God wants you to attend college but see no way to pay for it. Can you trust Him to provide? You lost your job. You got divorced. You were in a car wreck and totaled your car. Can you trust God in these situations?
If you are from a place where the government or culture is hostile to Jesus, your financial problems may have a different source. The police have come and beat you so that you are unable to work. Your husband was put in prison for the sake of Christ. The family that supported you has now disowned you. Can you trust Him to provide? He will.
Provision is a trust issue, and trust is why God allows us to go through hardship. When life is smooth and nice, who needs to trust? But when you suddenly can’t pay the bills, and you see no earthly solution to your problems, it is then that we have opportunity to build trust and faith in our Provider. We don’t see how, but we see Who. Because we know that . . .
God provides.
