God Will Provide

“An elderly Christian lady had very little money and lived in a rundown house, but she was always praising the Lord. Her only problem was with the old man who lived next door. He was always trying to prove to her that there was no God. One day, as the old man was walking by her house, he noticed the woman through an open window. She was kneeling down in prayer, so he crept over to the window to see if he could hear. She was praying, " Lord, you’ve always given me what I’ve needed." She prayed. "And now you know that I don’t have any money, and I’m completely out of groceries, and I won’t get another check for a week." She continued, "Somehow, Lord, can you get me some groceries?" The man had heard all he needed. He crept away from the window and ran down to the grocery store. He bought milk, bread, and lunchmeat. He ran back to the woman’s house carrying the groceries. He set the bag down on by her door, rang the doorbell, and hid beside of the house. You can imagine how the woman reacted to seeing the bag of groceries. She threw her hands over head and began praising the Lord. "Thank you Jesus," she shouted. "I was without food and you provided the groceries." About that time the old man jumped out and said, "I’ve got you now." She was too busy shouting “thank you’s” to Jesus to pay any attention. "I told you there was no God," the old man said, " it wasn’t Jesus who gave you those groceries it was me." "Oh no," the woman said. "Jesus got me these groceries and made the devil pay for them” (sermoncentral.com).

The apostle Paul says that “...God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  He may do it in some unorthodox ways.  He may even use his enemies to do it.  But never doubt that God will take care of His own, one way or another!

God loves you!

Mike

Baggage

          “Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.  Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken.  And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found.  Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, ‘Has the man come here yet?’ So the Lord said, ‘Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage” (1 Samuel 10:20-22).
          Not a very auspicious start for the one chosen by God to be the king of Israel!  And to be fair, it's true that this wasn’t a calling that Saul sought to begin with.  When he had set out from home, all he was seeking was his father’s donkeys.  Now he had been anointed as king by a prophet of God.  Talk about a sudden and intimidating career change!  Is it any wonder that, on the day of his public coronation, Saul is nowhere to be found?  And he might have avoided it totally if the Lord hadn’t blown his cover.  Saul was found to be “...hiding himself by the baggage."
          It’s tempting to hide among the “baggage” of life, isn’t it?  Everyone has “baggage” that can be used as cover to hide from God’s call in their life.  It might be emotional baggage, such as anger over past slights or anxiety over past failures.  It might be relational baggage, such as a failed marriage or estrangement from friends and family.  It might be physical baggage, such as bodily illness or injury.  It could even be spiritual baggage, such as damage done by the failings of spiritual mentors in your life.
          Life’s baggage is real and can be very painful.  But it is a poor place to hide!  God can see through it better than an airport security scanner.  It’s time to quit hiding among our baggage and embrace God’s call in our lives.  Only Satan wins when we use our baggage to keep us from serving God and each other.

God loves you!
Mike