Nehemiah 9:20-21 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

The point is that God provided for every one of the Israelites’ needs, spiritual and material and physical. It’s interesting that we have such trouble really trusting the totality of God’s care and provision for us. We get to some new challenge and forget that God is more than able to meet that as well. A big part of that comes from our failure to acknowledge that everything we currently have is a gift from God. By thinking we have achieved whatever we have, we also think we have to achieve whatever else it is that we need. That leaves us unable to trust God as our Provider, and leads to all sorts of anxiety and stress. That doesn’t mean that we are to be passive all the time, waiting for God to drop things into our laps. On the contrary, part of God’s provision is in giving us strength and ability, and failure to make good use of those is irresponsible before God. However, we must not forget that however anything comes to us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”

I think I have done fairly well in this area personally, but that hasn’t kept me from being anxious at times. God has allowed many lean seasons in my life to teach me better how to keep my trust in Him. He knows that I’m just as liable as the next guy to fail to seek Him if I get too comfortable materially! That too is His grace, and the more I think about it, the more overwhelming that grace seems to me. I am charged with teaching others about Him and His kingdom, leading them into His truth. To do that effectively, it’s got to come from within me, and not just be some abstract theory I heard from someone. It’s interesting even to me how many personal examples I can give even in teaching nurses and therapists. God has given me a wide variety of experiences, both directly and through those close to me, so that I can let my students know that what I’m teaching them isn’t just abstract theory, but practical reality. I need to be equally down-to-earth in teaching spiritual truths.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for the current financially lean season, and for Your timely provision for every need, to the point of allowing us to be generous. Keep us growing in trust and obedience, not only so that we won’t miss any of Your provision, but especially so that those who are watching us may learn to trust and obey You as well, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!