Believe God Will Provide and Rest

Young African American female sleeping in bed

Many people called to Christian service refuse to take it because they do not believe that serving God would pay. They doubt God who calls them to service. Many of them accept the call, but stall on the delivery of the service due to fear, doubts, anxiety, skepticism that overwhelm them.

These servants so weakened become unable to enjoy the service. This is nothing new as people have interacted with the invitation to obedience to the call of God for service. When Isaac asked his father Abraham the whereabouts of the lamb for sacrifice, the father must have mumbled to respond that “God himself will provide” (Gen. 22:8) as a private confession in the face of the harsh reality before him. God did not let Abraham down. Psalm 37:23-25 gives an assurance for those engaged in the struggle to secure an answer, concerning whether it pays to live a righteous life.

The psalmist states “If the Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumbles, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” The psalmist supports his argument with a testimony, “I was young and now I am old, I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.” God has ways of providing to meet the need of the righteous. The bible is full of stories of righteous people whose needs God has met without fail. They become our inspiration to pursue the practice of holy living as service to God.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out rules and regulations for the community governed by values and virtues of the kingdom of God (Matt. 5:1 – 7:29). Jesus delivered the sermon to an attentive crowd which he sought to make a kingdom community. His message remains relevant to us in this day as it was in Jesus’ own time. Matthew provided the background to the sermon in Matthew 4:23-25. He had gone throughout the villages of Galilee teaching in Jewish synagogues, preaching good news of the kingdom of God and healing the sick. Matthew records that news about Jesus spread all over Syria. People brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed. Jesus healed them.

Matthew further records, that large crowds from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and across the Jordan followed him. With this background, we can appreciate the message of the Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus delivered sitting on the mountain side as crowds sat below. It consists of practical ways to live personally and collectively as citizens of God’s kingdom. The sermon is a summary of Jesus teaching about what it takes to embrace kingdom values. There was no distinction between the clergy and laity because every member becomes part of the family of God by virtue of belief exemplified in lifestyle that went beyond confession of belief. He emphasizes practice of faith in real life. Trust in God’s provisions should not and cannot be compromised.

In the sermon, Jesus appealed to his audience not to worry (Gen. 6:25 34). Worry is an expression of doubt and equally the very opposite of faith. If worry goes on unchecked, it can cause diseases like arthritis, muscle pain, sleeplessness, hypertension and high blood pressure that pose danger to good health. Worry is an expression of fear about the future and a failure to acknowledge that we should concentrate on the present issues and belief that the future is safe in God’s hands. Worry adds no value but faith does. One can go to bed and sleep believing that future provisions are in God’s control. Worry adds nothing to life but only succeeds to reduce the quality of our human health. To score his point, Jesus asked the crowd a rhetorical question “Who by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
People worry about food, physical appearance, grooming, education of their children, retirement and old age which they cannot shape. Men and women of faith have no business spending their midnight oil plotting tomorrow’s matters. Pagans who do not know God and have no hope in him can understandably spend energies doing that. Trusting in God to provide for His children, lead Paul in his letter to the Romans 11:33-36, to deliver an emotional doxology that emphasized the necessity to provide for the needs of the people of God as God sees fit. He marveled at “the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? And who has given to God that God should repay him?” It absurd for anybody to imagine that he or she can influence God to shape the future destiny for individuals, communities or nations.

It is only useful to leave the future in God’s hands. That is where it belongs. It is enough to remember that God owns all things and that he can use his resources to minister to his children.
Servants of God must learn from the teaching of Jesus in the parables of the hidden treasure and of the pearl that calls for the disciples to invest their wealth and intellectual abilities in the kingdom of God and from there henceforth rely on God fully to provide for their needs. The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-27) underscores the importance of innovation among the followers of God in Jesus Christ. People are entrusted to manage strictly resources within their means. It calls for nothing less than the best in trusting God to meet their needs, faith in God is not rocket science. Jesus does not ask for great faith but simple faith compared to that of little children (Mark 10:14-15).

Trust in God means total dependence on Him whatever comes on the way of the servant of God. Trusting in God’s provisions is best expressed in a Christian’s ability to remain calm when facing the storms of life, by trusting that God is in charge and that He will carry his servant through (Psalm 23:1, 4-5; Isaiah 43: 1b-3; Mark 4:37-39). Indeed, it is safer to stand on His promises than to panic, doubt, fear and worry. Peace is healing and relaxing to the body, mind, spirit and emotions. Let us trust God to take care of us from now into our old age. This is our best option for a holy and healthy living in this life and the life to come. Thank God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

More Posts by Dr. Daniel M’Mutungi

 

 

 

 

 

 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
trackback

[…] Dr. Daniel M'Mutungi June 23, 2022 1 […]

trackback

[…] Believe God Will Provide And Rest […]

2
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x