God's Provision

"For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills." Ps. 50:10

We have often prayed, "God, You own a thousand cattles on a thousand hills, please butcher one and send me the money for ___________!"  We are only jesting, but the principle is true: God owns everything!  I do not believe or teach that God will give me anything I want if I just have enough faith, or if I just claim it.  My salvation is based on Jesus, and only Jesus.  My relationship with God is sealed.  I am His. But, I do believe that "...my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  God knows when a true need arises and if we are walking with Him and depending on Him, then He will meet those needs.  He is the King of Kings!  You have a rich Daddy in Heaven.  You are His princess! 

We have been in the ministry for about 20 of our married years.  We raised 5 boys on a church staff member's salary.  Yes, sometimes we wondered how we were going to pay for braces, college, etc...  But we taught our children good financial and work principles and have waited on God to provide in His timing.  I think that is the tough part - waiting. 

When we were in seminary, living in a 600 sq. ft. apartment with 3 children, God answered many prayers of provision.  Husband Tracy was without a job for 9 months and my 2 day a week Mom's Day Out job barely covered groceries.  We had a garage sale and made $1 more than we needed to pay our house payment in ND where we had been unable to sell.  But mostly, I remember my 3 year old Nathan praying for cowboy boots.  One day someone gave us a bag of clothes that their kids had outgrown and not only were there cowboy boots, but they were Nathan's size!  That grew his faith by leaps and bounds. 

This morning we woke up to find an email that congratulated one of the boys on being a recipient for a scholarship.  Wow!  That will really help.  Thank you, God!  Yes, it had to have come from God's hand.  This was a Best Buy scholarship; that's national!  And God blessed my son with it!  Wow!!

Hint for the Day: Remember out loud and often with your children the times that you have seen God's hand in your provision.  This will teach them to look to God.  It will also give your family an attitude of praise.  When we remember what God has done it bolsters our faith to what God can do.  If your faith could use a kick today, stop and remember God's goodness - in spiritual and in material gifts.


If you have older children a great resource for discussion is Principles Under Scrutiny by Christian Financial Concepts.  This booklooks at economic issues from a Christian world view.  Each topic is two pages.  We added it to our economics course for high school.