Life is like a winding road. There is always another bend just ahead that can’t be seen around. You don’t know what is coming next. Yet, we drive the road in faith. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to get anywhere if you had to stop your automobile before every corner and walk around the corner to make sure it was safe? It would make driving down the road fairly difficult!
We place our faith in many things that are less than dependable--our vehicles, the state road department, other drivers, and road conditions to name a few. But the convenience and efficiency of travel by auto has pretty much taken over the old mode of transportation by horse and buggy!
Consider how well you do trusting God with your life everyday. Life is pretty much like that winding road. There is always a corner ahead that you can’t see around. Unfortunately we often put more trust in the precarious nature of autos, other drivers, and the weather than we do in God. We like to have grand assurances for the future. We like to know what’s around the next bend. We tell this to God on a regular basis and when we don’t get the response we want, we accuse God of not listening to us.
We have been promised our daily bread, but what we’d really like is to have a pantry supply of bread for at least a year! What we are really uncomfortable with is trusting God one day at a time. There is a great story in the Bible about the prophet Elijah that explains this concept so beautifully. (1 Kings 17)
Elijah is called by God to announce a famine in the land of Israel and after a while food and water are scarce. Elijah has fled from Israel when he meets up with a widow who is gathering sticks to build a fire. Elijah greets her and asks for food. You can just picture the look of disbelief on her face upon hearing this request. She is obviously, poor, widowed, and helpless. She tells the prophet that she is going to take her last handful of flour and little bit of oil and make her last loaf of bread and then she and her son are going to sit down and die. The prophet reassures her that if she will provide for him in faith God will make sure her flour and oil do not run out until the famine is over.
Well, she reaches out in faith and uses her last bit of flour and oil to make the prophet some bread, and miraculously, there is just enough left for her and her son. The next day the same thing happens, and the next, and the next. There is always just enough for the day’s needs.
We would be so much more comfortable in life if God had chosen to give us a whole barrel of flour and vat of oil. But no, God chooses to give us just enough. The idea of “just enough” is one that we are not too happy about. It is not, however, unlike that winding road that we drive all the time. There is just enough of the road visible to us at a time for us to keep going safely.
We live in an abundant universe and we have a loving, generous Creator. Perhaps there are some lessons that we need to learn by only having provision for our current needs instead of for weeks and months at a time. One of the most important lessons we are here to learn is to trust our Creator. God wants us to completely believe that everything about Him/Her is loving, abundant, and mindful of our needs. When we have a storehouse of goods, we feel very little need for trusting. As a matter of fact, we’re quite tempted to see everything as a result of our own efforts anyway.
We can travel happily down the road of life if we will learn to take one day at a time. We don’t have to see around every corner in order to enjoy the trip. We are in good hands when we travel with God and we will always have just enough to take care of our daily needs. Having just enough is not just about our food and shelter it is also about faith and trust.
Having just enough trust for today is all we need. God doesn’t ask us for more than that. Seeing how we put so much trust in things that are flawed, how much more should we trust that which is perfect?
Knowing that the universe is abundant and that God is generous can give us confidence that God’s storehouses are full and will be shared with us as we need. I don’t have to have the storehouse in my backyard to believe and trust in God. I can travel the road with confidence because my needs have already been provided for. God is going to get me safely to my destination giving me just what I need at just the right time. I have just enough for the journey!
We place our faith in many things that are less than dependable--our vehicles, the state road department, other drivers, and road conditions to name a few. But the convenience and efficiency of travel by auto has pretty much taken over the old mode of transportation by horse and buggy!
Consider how well you do trusting God with your life everyday. Life is pretty much like that winding road. There is always a corner ahead that you can’t see around. Unfortunately we often put more trust in the precarious nature of autos, other drivers, and the weather than we do in God. We like to have grand assurances for the future. We like to know what’s around the next bend. We tell this to God on a regular basis and when we don’t get the response we want, we accuse God of not listening to us.
We have been promised our daily bread, but what we’d really like is to have a pantry supply of bread for at least a year! What we are really uncomfortable with is trusting God one day at a time. There is a great story in the Bible about the prophet Elijah that explains this concept so beautifully. (1 Kings 17)
Elijah is called by God to announce a famine in the land of Israel and after a while food and water are scarce. Elijah has fled from Israel when he meets up with a widow who is gathering sticks to build a fire. Elijah greets her and asks for food. You can just picture the look of disbelief on her face upon hearing this request. She is obviously, poor, widowed, and helpless. She tells the prophet that she is going to take her last handful of flour and little bit of oil and make her last loaf of bread and then she and her son are going to sit down and die. The prophet reassures her that if she will provide for him in faith God will make sure her flour and oil do not run out until the famine is over.
Well, she reaches out in faith and uses her last bit of flour and oil to make the prophet some bread, and miraculously, there is just enough left for her and her son. The next day the same thing happens, and the next, and the next. There is always just enough for the day’s needs.
We would be so much more comfortable in life if God had chosen to give us a whole barrel of flour and vat of oil. But no, God chooses to give us just enough. The idea of “just enough” is one that we are not too happy about. It is not, however, unlike that winding road that we drive all the time. There is just enough of the road visible to us at a time for us to keep going safely.
We live in an abundant universe and we have a loving, generous Creator. Perhaps there are some lessons that we need to learn by only having provision for our current needs instead of for weeks and months at a time. One of the most important lessons we are here to learn is to trust our Creator. God wants us to completely believe that everything about Him/Her is loving, abundant, and mindful of our needs. When we have a storehouse of goods, we feel very little need for trusting. As a matter of fact, we’re quite tempted to see everything as a result of our own efforts anyway.
We can travel happily down the road of life if we will learn to take one day at a time. We don’t have to see around every corner in order to enjoy the trip. We are in good hands when we travel with God and we will always have just enough to take care of our daily needs. Having just enough is not just about our food and shelter it is also about faith and trust.
Having just enough trust for today is all we need. God doesn’t ask us for more than that. Seeing how we put so much trust in things that are flawed, how much more should we trust that which is perfect?
Knowing that the universe is abundant and that God is generous can give us confidence that God’s storehouses are full and will be shared with us as we need. I don’t have to have the storehouse in my backyard to believe and trust in God. I can travel the road with confidence because my needs have already been provided for. God is going to get me safely to my destination giving me just what I need at just the right time. I have just enough for the journey!
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