Unusual Provision

Like may Christians I am well aware that the Lord is my Provider, but often in the course of everyday life I forget. The attribute of Provider is not one you can just search for the word in a concordance, rather you need book like Nave's Topical Bible to look it up, to see instances of God's miraculous provision.

A great chapter for this is 1 Kings 17 where the Lord uses Elijah to proclaim a drought.

In the first part of the chapter we see the Lord miraculously providing for Elijah. He provides daily and sovereignly.

In the next part we see the story of the widow's oil, where her flour and oil lasted miraculously as she shared what she had.

The chapter ends with Elijah reviving her son, this once again providing her with a son.

So often when we (okay, I mean me) think of God's provision we think about the big things, the monumental things, we don't think about the each and every day. We forget about the little things.

Like the shampoo bottle that was almost empty and I had forgotten to buy, I prayed for it to last until I could get a new one. That was in July, I actually made an emergency run to the store. The bottle was immediately put upside down to get everything out, and each time I would wash my hair the amount I would need would come out followed by air, I was sure it was empty, but each shower this repeated, for over two months. I finally threw out the bottle last night.

Like the lunch meat I got on sale for about $0.50 a package that has been lunches when I had no energy and when I needed to stretch our budget.

Like a grandma ordering a much needed dress for a Christmas present.

Like the gift card that just perfectly covered the cost of a new diaper pail when our old one quite working.

Like the provision of meals through friends when we were just too tired.

Like the great diaper sales when I needed to think about stocking up for Baby Pear's arrival but had to make it fit in the budget I had. We ended up with more than enough plus tons of wipes!

I am finding that the Lord's provision is still miraculous, but if we just watch for the big things that He does (and He definitely still does big things), we miss the small everyday things that teach us to trust and strengthen our faith.