Matthew 6:9-13, “Give us this day, our daily bread.”
There is such hope, reassurance and blessing found deep within the bedrock of these seven short words. For within these seven words, I find a two fold blessing. First, God is giving me permission to transfer the burden of my daily provision from my heart to his. A burden I was never designed to carry in the first place but one for which I am so eager to carry, claim ownership and toil at miserably almost on a daily basis. Second, when I transfer that burden of care and stress to its rightful owner, it allows God to be my Father in all its fullness in a way that pleases him and is a blessing back to me, a child that was designed to rest in his arms.
These seven words graciously show me how to rest and trust in my Heavenly Father who cares for me far more than I can think or imagine. These words show me that I am the one who asks. God is the one who gives. I am the one who waits. God is the one who acts. I am the child who needs to be provided for. God is the Father that is doing the providing. When the relationship is aligned within these proper boundaries and structures, everything works as it was originally designed and everyone involved is blessed as a result.
In 1989, I became a dad for the first time. Her name was Alisa Marie. What a bundle. Then along came Noah in 1994, Grace in 1996, Meri in 1998, Levi in 2000 and JJ in 2014. In all, at the time of this writing, I have been a dad going on 28 years. During this timeframe, my wife and I have had our shares of financial ups and downs. Couple of times, due to circumstances beyond our control, we nearly had to sell our home to make ends meet. Each time, God was gracious and gave us our “daily bread” at just the right moment which allowed us to keep our home and provide for our children.
Each time a season of financial stress showed up unexpectedly, at least one of my children became worried if we would have enough money to eat, have a place to stay or clothes to wear. Each time, I made it very clear, that I was their dad and that I did not want them to worry even in the slightest about our finances. I reassured them that they would have food to eat, clothes to wear and a warm bed to sleep in. The only thing I wanted them to focus on was to continue being a happy growing child of our family. As their dad, I wanted them to rest easy each night within their beds with nothing but the love of their Heavenly Father and their earthly mother and father to put their little minds to sleep. The burden of their provision was my concern in its entirety, not theirs.
If that is how we as fathers and mothers want our children to trust us as parents and providers, how much more does our Heavenly Father desire the same trust and faith from us, the children of his household? If we as parents seek to reassure our kids not to worry about the household finances, when in reality, we have no idea how life will turn out, how much more does God our Father want us to trust him when he has absolutely everything under control and planned out for all eternity?
When you think about it, it makes no sense not to fully trust our Heavenly Father who in these seven short words, is promising to provide just what we need, in just the right amount, at just the right moment, for just the right purpose. That purpose being to blessing to us, change us into his likeness and to accomplish his good work all around us on a daily basis.
Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-26, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
When you take a moment to think about how our Heavenly Father is promising to take care of us as his children, it just makes our hearts want to sing with heartfelt melodies the words from that old hymn,
“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.
Just to take him at his word.
Just to rest upon his promise.
Just to know thus saith the Lord.”
Written by:
D. Mike Collins
Habakkuk 2:4 “The Just shall live by faith.”
Thanks Mike. I needed that reminder with all the chaos swirling around this weekend. Love you, Mom
Thank you for sharing these words of wisdom, Mike!
We pray the Lord’s prayer at the beginning of home school each day. I think tithing and giving offerings is also important for finances.