Light for July

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

~ Philippians 4:19

Where do your worries come from? I promise you that 99.999999% of my worries are wrapped up in my own needs. I worry about losing my job and not being able to pay my bills or the transmission going out on my car and not being able to afford the repair or my house burning to the ground and having to start over. I know these are ridiculous things to worry about because a lot of these concerns are 100% out of my control but as a single person I often feel like I am juggling the “unknowns” on my own, you know? I mean, do you ever feel like there just isn’t enough “cushion” in your life for the “what ifs”? It seems like we are all trying to stretch our resources as far as possible and often coming up short.

However, I’ve learned in the last few years that I can truly rely on Philippians 4:19 to speak truth into my worries even when my emotions tell my otherwise. Something may be unknown to me but the Lord is not taken off guard and He won’t leave me to flounder! In February of 2013, when I left my house to drive to Jackson and visit my grandmother, I had no idea that a tornado would rip through my neighborhood that afternoon but God did. (Ironically, that is not an ‘unknown” that I ever worried about.) I was a young teacher living paycheck to paycheck. Neither I, nor my roommate, had the extra income to replace a bunch of stuff. Initially, this was my nightmare realized, yet as the days and weeks went on I found nothing but unexpected blessings in the situation. (Side note: Many of these blessings were there from the beginning but I had to fix my perspective before I could recognize them.)

Let me warn you though, many people read this verse and think it means the Lord will give you whatever you desire with no fuss. God is not a genie in the sky waiting to grant your wishes. The Bible doesn’t promise that as believers life will be smooth sailing. In fact, it promises the exact opposite (John 16:33) but the Lord does provide for our needs. It may not look like you expect or come when you think you need it but remember, you can’t see the big picture that He painted.

There’s a business term called JIT which stands for just in time inventory. The idea is that in a perfect world your new inventory would arrive just as you are running out of the last bit on the shelf and I’ve come to realize that the Lord often works in a JIT way. I have a current “worry” that is shaping up to be a 100% JIT moment. God’s answer to my prayer will arrive just when I need it…at the eleventh hour, as it were, not a moment before which for me, requires a ton of faith. I’d rather have the answer sitting in storage to pull out whenever I want or to at least give me confidence but that doesn’t grow my faith. I know the Lord is faithful and He’s assured me that He will provide but I have to accept that it won’t be in my ideal way or timeframe and yet it will be more than I can imagine, if only I can learn to let go and trust Him to fulfill my needs.