The Lord will provide!
The Lord HAS provided, and the Lord WILL provide.
Deuteronomy 2:7 " For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows you're going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”
Even when it doesn’t look like it, the God of the universe provides for His people. He provided for the Israelites when they where in the wilderness for 40 years “and they lacked nothing.” If you remember correctly, the Israelites were HUGE complainers. They were definitely not a people with contentment written on their lives. Although the Israelites had all they needed, they didn’t always believe it. Sometimes they even wished to return to their bondage in Egypt.
I don’t know about you but, on the outside looking in, it’s easy for me to think of the Israelites as ungrateful complainers that had no faith and think that if I were in the same situation I would be different. That I would be grateful, thankful, and trusting in the unseen plan and provision of God. BUT when I actually think of it, I am often in difficult situations and seasons that are far less trying than the one the Israelites happen to find themselves in. And what’s my instinctual response to these difficult seasons?—Confidence, trust, and patience?—SADLY NO, instead, my immediate response seems to always be fearful complaining and doubt. The same response that I tend to judge the Israelites for.
If the Lord provided for the complaining Israelites for 40 YEARS in the DESERT, then he will certainly provide for us in the situation that we find ourselves in now. It may not always be in the way we expect, but even if we have nothing, in Christ we have all we need. (Philippians 4:19, And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.)
Remember today and for the rest of your life that you are one small part of God’s big story, and that one day when you are able to “see the big picture” you will wonder why you ever doubted God’s perfect-miraculous plan for your life. Even if we have to spend 40 years in the wilderness to finally see God’s plan unfold, it will be worth it in the end. Even if this pandemic were to last for 40 more years, God would still be working and God would surely still be providing.
If the Lord of the universe died for you, then He will most certainly provide for you now. — God is ALWAYS working, and He is ALWAYS providing.
Prayer,
Lord, you are a good and gracious Father. Thank you for providing for my every need. For allowing me to rely more heavily on you by taking me through deep waters. Thank you for being patient with me even in times when I’m not patient with you. Continue to teach me patience, faith, and trust through trails of this life. Thank you for never leaving my side, and for giving me all that I need in Jesus Christ.
In your Gracious name, AMEN.