Life as a River
God Provides Enough
Do we really believe it?
Part 2
As you read this post I am in Nigeria at West Africa Theological Seminary. I hope to bring you updates of my work there, but in the meantime am posting Part 2 of the article by Jay Link of Stewardship Ministries, entitled "God Provides Enough." Get ready, this is NOT just another simple read. - Mark
"All of us are quite familiar with the epic story of Israel’s 40 year wandering in the wilderness. Recently I reread this story – particularly noticing the part where God announces how He will feed His people. I find it quite fascinating that of all the unlimited ways that God could have chosen to feed His people, He opted for such an unusual way of doing it – manna.Here is the actual account:
This is what the Lord has commanded: Each of you should gather as much as you can eat. Take two quarts for each person in your tent. So that is what the Israelites did. Some gathered more, some less. They measured it into two-quart containers. Those who had gathered more didn’t have too much. Those who had gathered less didn’t have too little. They gathered as much as they could eat. Then Moses said to them, ‘No one may keep any of it until morning.’ Exodus 16:16–19
As I pondered God’s miraculous and admittedly quite bizarre mealtime plan for His people, everything about it – and I mean everything – seems to fly squarely in the face of our well-accepted American version of Christianity. My conclusions were quite sobering. But even more sobering was contemplating how this might apply to how I steward the life and resources God has entrusted to me. Author: Jay Link, Stewardship Ministries
Not much has changed in human nature since the dawn of man. We are all prone to not know the answer to the question, “How much is enough?” Our stock American answer is routinely, “Just a little bit more.” And Israel was certainly no exception. The more industrious and resourceful among them apparently saw God’s daily provision as a way of securing their future – a way to stock up.
After all, they must have reasoned, “What could be wrong with building up an emergency reserve of three to six months of food in the event God forgets or fails to continue to take care of us in the future? I mean, wouldn’t that just be good stewardship? Would it? Is this commonly promoted line of reasoning God’s way or is it just the American way we have erroneously inserted into God’s way? Interesting question, isn’t it?
Let me suggest that building emergency reserves or retirement stockpiles from God’s daily provisions to secure our future does not seem to be God’s way. In fact, knowing the deceitfully wicked mind and heart of man (Jeremiah 17:9), God made it impossible for Israel to never depend on accumulated emergency reserves – knowing that doing so would only enable them to put their trust in their accumulated provisions instead of Him, their Provider. Moses reports in Exodus 16:20, “But some of them didn’t listen to Moses. They kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and smelled bad.” They simply could not save up any extra (except on Fridays when they could gather up enough for both Friday and Saturday – the Sabbath Day). Beyond that two day supply, it was day to day provisions for 40 years.
I imagine that by now you have already begun doing the same thing I tried to do – attempting to rationalize this idea that “God might want me to live my life with no reserves, no surplus and no extras.” All I can say is, good luck!
In Proverbs 30:8-9 Agur affirms the spiritual danger of having a surplus. He says, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” Agur’s point is quite obvious – give me just enough, because riches will tempt me to forget God and poverty will tempt me to break His laws and dishonor Him. Do you think this tidbit of wisdom might apply to us today?
The New Testament also reinforces this “no surplus” message. Remember when Jesus taught His disciples (at least some of whom were very well off financially) to pray. He told them to pray this way, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). This sounds an awful lot like a prayer that Israel might have been praying each morning, doesn’t it? Apparently, even after 1,500 years had passed, God was still wanting his people to be depending daily on Him as their Provider.
Think about it. This part of His model prayer makes no sense whatsoever, if we have months, years or even a lifetime of surplus resources stashed away for our personal use. Many of us have stored up enough surplus that we could say with a great sense of security, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). Before you take too much comfort in this verse, know that God later calls the man who said this, a “fool.”
Let me ask you a quite profound question, “What would be wrong with living a hand to mouth existence, if it was God’s hand to your mouth? It seems like this is exactly the situation God wants all of us to be in – depending on Him on a daily basis to give us enough – for that day. I think our greatest challenge is to determine, exactly how do we live this way in the midst of so much excess? And if we do have a surplus, how do we prevent it from hindering our desire and ability to depend on God to take care of us on a daily basis? These are questions that we all need to honestly wrestle with.
After all, they must have reasoned, “What could be wrong with building up an emergency reserve of three to six months of food in the event God forgets or fails to continue to take care of us in the future? I mean, wouldn’t that just be good stewardship? Would it? Is this commonly promoted line of reasoning God’s way or is it just the American way we have erroneously inserted into God’s way? Interesting question, isn’t it?
Let me suggest that building emergency reserves or retirement stockpiles from God’s daily provisions to secure our future does not seem to be God’s way. In fact, knowing the deceitfully wicked mind and heart of man (Jeremiah 17:9), God made it impossible for Israel to never depend on accumulated emergency reserves – knowing that doing so would only enable them to put their trust in their accumulated provisions instead of Him, their Provider. Moses reports in Exodus 16:20, “But some of them didn’t listen to Moses. They kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and smelled bad.” They simply could not save up any extra (except on Fridays when they could gather up enough for both Friday and Saturday – the Sabbath Day). Beyond that two day supply, it was day to day provisions for 40 years.
I imagine that by now you have already begun doing the same thing I tried to do – attempting to rationalize this idea that “God might want me to live my life with no reserves, no surplus and no extras.” All I can say is, good luck!
In Proverbs 30:8-9 Agur affirms the spiritual danger of having a surplus. He says, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” Agur’s point is quite obvious – give me just enough, because riches will tempt me to forget God and poverty will tempt me to break His laws and dishonor Him. Do you think this tidbit of wisdom might apply to us today?
The New Testament also reinforces this “no surplus” message. Remember when Jesus taught His disciples (at least some of whom were very well off financially) to pray. He told them to pray this way, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). This sounds an awful lot like a prayer that Israel might have been praying each morning, doesn’t it? Apparently, even after 1,500 years had passed, God was still wanting his people to be depending daily on Him as their Provider.
Think about it. This part of His model prayer makes no sense whatsoever, if we have months, years or even a lifetime of surplus resources stashed away for our personal use. Many of us have stored up enough surplus that we could say with a great sense of security, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). Before you take too much comfort in this verse, know that God later calls the man who said this, a “fool.”
Let me ask you a quite profound question, “What would be wrong with living a hand to mouth existence, if it was God’s hand to your mouth? It seems like this is exactly the situation God wants all of us to be in – depending on Him on a daily basis to give us enough – for that day. I think our greatest challenge is to determine, exactly how do we live this way in the midst of so much excess? And if we do have a surplus, how do we prevent it from hindering our desire and ability to depend on God to take care of us on a daily basis? These are questions that we all need to honestly wrestle with.
llow me to share with you the second simple, yet profound insight this story reveals in how God wants to be in relationship with His people.
God Provides Enough… (Do we really believe it?)
So, let me ask you, do you really believe that
God will always provide you enough?
To read the Full Article, CLICK HERE
Next week, Part 3
God will always provide you enough?
To read the Full Article, CLICK HERE
Next week, Part 3
RIVERS NOT RESERVOIRS
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Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
BLOG: www.hisrivers.org
EMAIL: his.rivers@gmail.com
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
BLOG: www.hisrivers.org
EMAIL: his.rivers@gmail.com
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