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“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Before we get into today’s devotional, let’s look at the definition of provision together.
provision: noun
: the act or process of providing
: the fact or state of being prepared beforehand
We hear so often that we shouldn’t worry. I’ve heard many stories of people being “shamed” because of their worries. Why shouldn’t we worry though? Instead of condemning others or even our own selves about worrying, we need a solution. The solution is understanding and believing the promises of God, particularly His promise to be our provider.
In the scripture above, we see God’s promise to supply to His children all their daily needs. God isn’t giving us leftover scraps. He has promised to supply our needs abundantly according to the riches in His infinite glory. We have this promise because of Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us to God.
There is a wider application to this, however, and one that is more important. As humans, we tend to be most concerned about our physical needs, since those are so immediate to us. But God is first and foremost concerned with our spiritual needs, and we can praise him knowing that He has promised to supply this as well. This is the sort of provision we see in Genesis 22. Abraham was obeying God and sacrificing his son Isaac, but God saw his faith and provided a ram to sacrifice instead. This resulted in Abraham calling God his provider.
Jehovah Jireh means, “The Lord will provide.” Just like He provided a sacrifice in the place of Isaac, so He has provided a sacrifice in the place of us through Jesus Christ. It is through Him that our spiritual needs are provided for fully and completely. All the things we need that pertain to life and godliness are provided to us through God’s divine power. He has not left us without provision. And not only this, but He has not left it up to us to provide for ourselves.
When you find yourself beginning to worry:
Lord, help me humble myself today and lift my eyes to you. Calm the noise that surrounds me so that I may sit at your feet and adore you. I confess that there are so many times that I run to myself to “provide” and not you. I confess that running to myself gets me no where good. (Now begin to be honest with God and tell Him what you need today – physically, mentally, spiritually.)
Lord, fill me up with your Holy Spirit today that I may walk and be guided in your truth. I walk in the authority given to me by your Son, Jesus Christ ––that I may be a light to someone today. Fill me up with your wisdom, love, kindness, patience, gentleness, and self-control today. I’m relying on you and you alone for all my needs today. I love you, Lord.
Today, pray for our Orange City location. Pray for the Lord's favor and protection over Orange City. Pray for the Lord to increase our influence within the schools within Orange City.