God Provides

Happy Thanksgiving! September was a blur, and here we are into October and celebrating Thanksgiving. Although it isn’t a necessarily a Christian holiday (i.e. not celebrating a Christian event from the Bible) Thanksgiving does have roots that run throughout Scripture. The understanding that God is the provider for all that we need is found in multiple places in the Bible (Job 36:31; Psalm 11:5; Acts 14:17; 1 Timothy 6:17), and in Genesis 22:14 Abraham calls God Jehovah Jireh which means “God will provide.” In light of this, we are called to be thankful and content, recognizing that all good gifts come from God (James 1:17) and should be received with thanksgiving.

Paul reminds us that in each and every situation we are called to be thankful and content (see Philippians 4:11-13). But this can be difficult when we have bills piling up, or our cupboards are bare, or our Thanksgiving table will have empty seats where family members used to sit. How are we to be thankful and content when we are far from satisfied with our present situation? Should we be joyful that our family is broken or our body diseased? Can we find joy in the midst of sorrow and suffering? The answer to the question of contentment is found not in our situation but in our Saviour. There will always be times in this life in which brokenness and sin creep in and steal away our joy, but God does not change. He is the same yesterday as He is today, and will be tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). So while our situation or condition in this life is not permanent, God is. If our hope and trust is in Him and not in our health, financial status, or in others, then we can still find joy and contentment even in the midst of trouble. I often go to Romans 8:31-39 as a reminder of God’s enduring love for us, and I believe it’s fitting to end this off with the promise found there:

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amen! Happy Thanksgiving!

We will be gathering once again this coming Sunday at our new time of 4pm. Hope to see you there.

Pastor Mike