Recognizing God's Daily Provisions

There appears to be a stark variance in the definition of needs and wants in our lives.

Reflecting back on my life there were clear moments when the insidious desire for more drove many of the decisions that I made. Before diving down a deep rabbit trail of where we get sideways it is prudent to take time to see what Scripture reveals about the true needs we have in life.

In this scripture, Jesus is teaching us to trust in God’s provision. In its purest form He is reminding us to focus on what God provides each day, most often without us even thinking twice. For instance, the fact that you are able to read these thoughts, on an electronic device most likely, puts you in the top echelon of people in the world. Don’t believe me - if you, or your parents for the younger audience, earn more than $55,000 annually you are in the top 3% of the top wage earners worldwide.

Think about that for a second, out of the over 8 billion people on the planet, if you earn $55K suddenly you have more money than 7.6 billion others. Yet we see the constant reminder daily of those earning this amount and often much more that are struggling financially, which leads to the natural question of why? It appears that what is happening all around us is the absolute resolve that happiness in life resides with what we want versus what God chooses to bless us with daily.

Simple provisions such as the sun rising, air in our lungs, food in the fridge, clothes in the closet, transportation easily accessible and much more have all been taken for granted and yet when the least little disturbance in these provisions occurs how quickly we remember His great hand. The best reminder of this is when power is lost due to a storm. When all of a sudden the air conditioning, lights, freezers and worst of all WiFi are gone we quickly remember how good His provision truly is. Jesus is teaching us here around a novel concept of being where our feet are in each moment of life. True joy, it appears, comes to fruition the moment we recognize that the most basic needs in life are the ones that God provides without us thinking twice.

So much of the anxiety, depression and poor stewardship can be traced back to individual decisions where wants outpaced needs and His provision was swept under the rug. As we dig further a great item to ponder are the incredible ways that God has blessed you with and are those taken for granted or do we offer the praise that He deserves.

Finally, regarding God’s provision each day, consider this idea. If tomorrow when we woke up we only received what we thanked God for the previous day what would you get? Would you get air in your lungs, food in your stomach, financial provision in the bank, health in your body, children around the dinner table or would you find the day surrounded by self-centered desires that leave us feeling empty? Remember, trust and praise Him each day for all the simple provisions in life and remember that He loves you so much that there will never be a day that He doesn’t show up and pour out HIs blessings upon you.

Questions to Consider:

1. Can you recall a moment when a disruption in your daily provisions made you appreciate God's blessings more?
2. If you woke up tomorrow with only what you thanked God for today, what would you have?