S210P9 – Our regular reminders: be God’s provision

Acts 20:34-35

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

She was new to this thing we call financial independence, and it was a stressful time.  It took only a few bad decisions to place her in a position out of which she could not pull herself. She prayed for God’s provision daily and almost even hourly.  She figured the answer to her prayers would be a change in her work, a raise, or a bag of money falling in her lap.  She kept her focus on the avenues by which she expected God’s provision to flow, but it was not there.  It never occurred to her that instead of money for food, God might prompt her brothers and sisters to feed her.  Instead of money for things, He might prompt them to give her what she lacked. She did not expect that God’s provision could flow from his people in seemingly normal ways.  

I have turned down blessings from others because I wanted my blessing to come straight from God.  I used to think that God moving in my life had to appear miraculous to be authentic. Ironically, I also would pray for God to use me to help others with what they needed. Perhaps this is what we mean when we speak of a blessing in disguise. It does not stand out to us simply because we have some preconceived notion of how our blessings should appear. If we understand that God has ordained the Church to bless herself, that He has given his children compassion so that they would meet each other’s needs, our blessings might seem more obvious. We are not merely recipients of provision but should hope to be conduits of it as well.

We all have our daily schedules and agendas which require our attention and commitment.  It seems like all our waking moments are already assigned days or even weeks in advance.  This can make us feel like there is little room for God to move us spontaneously.  One thing we know is that people are in need daily.  This means that we have an opportunity every day for God to use us to be someone else’s provision even if we do not have much.  Perhaps this is a door we can open to allow God to move through us spontaneously and regularly.  Father, open our eyes to the provision You have waiting for us, and show us daily how we can be your provision for others.