Day 21 - Week 3 Day 7 His Provisions

Today's reading (Bible in 1 Year)

Genesis 31:1-42

Psalm 19

Isaiah 18

Matthew 14

Thought for the day

In Nova Scotia, every vehicle needs a mechanical and safety inspection every 2 years.  I've mentioned this previously but we need a truck.  Our existing truck will not pass the inspection in May as it is, because it needs some body work.  The body work will be expensive but doable.  Even if the bodywork is done, I'll only get another 2 years out of it.  Apart from the body work, it's passable. Considering it's 15 years old, replacement is a logical discussion and we do not need anything brand new.  I have learned from the past that God does provide in His timing, so we are choosing not to jump ahead and move too quickly while we wait for God's answer.

We learned this in 2011.  We ran a youth ministry in the town that we lived in and I had just gotten a job 165KM (102 miles for those of you in the US) from home.  We knew we'd need to move closer to the job but in the meantime, I needed a vehicle to get there. We needed to be able to drive youth around because the ministry was in a rural area.  We went to a vehicle auction north of Toronto where we knew we'd be able to find something that would work.  Several vehicles went through the auction line selling way above our budget.  Finally, a minivan came through and we looked at it and said, YES, that will work (though it really wasn't what we were looking for).  We paid $600.  We got the van and felt God had provided.  We drove the van back to a friends home near our place and stopped in for dinner.   While we were enjoying our dinner, my cell phone rang.  It was a friend of mine who asked, "are you still looking for a vehicle?"  We said no but asked what he had.  He said, I was going to offer you ours.  We've decided to get a new vehicle and just picked it up today.  I asked how much and he said "Give me $500 and it's yours!"  I bought it anyway because we felt maybe we can still use the van for the youth ministry because it will take 8 kids!  Well -  the van died at the first youth event - fully loaded with youth!  It was clear God's provision was my friends vehicle, a 2001 Ford Sport Trac, and gave us 2 years of service, and not the "good deal van".

From today's reading we learning Psalm 19:1 that "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is delaying the work of His hands".  In verse 7 "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul" and verse 9 and 10 "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgements of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.  They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb."

Then in Matthew 14 we have Jesus feeding the 5000 from a source of 5 barley loaves and 2 fish.  In this story, the disciples want to send the people away but Jesus says, "They do not need to go away, you give them something to eat!"  He starts breaking up the food and in the end they have 12 baskets left over.

So what does all this have to do with us needing a truck?  God weighs out everything and maybe determines I don't even need a truck (that's means "I think I need one but maybe I don't").   But God knows what I actually need.  I've learned not to do this on my own like buying a van that had no value but I know that if it's a truck I need, God's provision is greater than I could ever imagined!  

Last January, we realized we had some needs that we did not have the available funds for.  It was a considerable amount.  After a month of continual prayer about these needs, I got a call from a former financial manager and I found out that there was money sitting there from an old investment we'd forgotten about.  The amount was exactly what we needed.  

Here's what I have learned.  Be patient and rely on the LORD for his provision.  

If I need it, He'll provide it!

Thanks for reading

Steve