Expect The Unexpected

Sometimes I don’t recognize how God is at work providing for my needs.

 

In 2012 I had surgery on my ankle. Shortly afterwards, before my first physical therapy session, my therapist observed that my ankle was quite swollen. He immediately sent me to the hospital where they discovered that I had a blood clot. As you probably realize, blood clots, if not detected, can be fatal.

 

Recently I shared this story with a friend. His response was, “Wow! God really provided for you”. It’s more than a little embarrassing for me to admit that after more than five years, it had never occurred to me that God had provided this physical therapist who very well may have saved my life.

 

All the creatures look expectantly to you
    to give them their meals on time.
You come, and they gather around;
    you open your hand and they eat from it.     MSG

 

We live in a society based on modern technology and information; not an agrarian society based on farming. Psalm 104 was written by someone living in an agrarian society whose livelihood depended on the weather, on the soil and little seeds. Today, most of us buy our food at Whole Foods or some other mega grocery store.

 

But if you expand your understanding of the verses above to not just mean the food you eat, but to include all of the needs that you have, then you begin to understand how expansive God’s provision actually is. It even includes a physical therapist’ insightful observation.

 

Scripture tells us, ^“Every good and perfect gift is from above”. Jesus said, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." He also referred to himself as “The Bread of Life”. God’s ultimate provision is that Jesus was sacrificed in our place.

 

There is much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving. But there are so many small, unexpected ways that God provides for us every day. Things we are never even aware of. The lesson for me is to expect the unexpected. Expect that God will show up.

 

Therefore, let us pray using the words of the Psalmist,

 

 

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Lilies of the Field

Matthew 6:25-34

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206%3A25-34&version=NIV;NLT

  

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was speaking to the masses. If you can imagine that during his sermon, he looks around at the crowd. He sees people from all walks of life.
Some are farmers; some are religious leaders; some are common laborers; some are sinners like tax collectors; some are beggars; and some are business men. All are struggling to survive.

 

And what does Jesus tell them?

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.          NLT

 

If we look at our own life, we’re not all that different from the people in the crowd to whom Jesus was speaking. We are trying to survive; to get ahead in the world; to provide for our family; to live a comfortable lifestyle. We desperately try to control our world to accomplish our goals.

 

Jesus isn’t speaking some pleasant sounding platitude like, “Don’t worry, be happy”. What he’s telling the people, and us, is that God is in control. He knows our needs. He loves us. He is always with us. He is always at work in our lives. So trust Him to provide for you, to meet your needs. Just how is this accomplished?

 

In 1963 there was a movie titled “Lilies of the Field” starring Sidney Poitier. The title
comes from today’s passage. It was about an itinerant handyman who stumbled upon some German nuns who were barely surviving in the Arizona desert.

 

They had faith in God that He would provide a church building for them. To Sidney Poitier’s chagrin, HE was the answer to their prayers. It’s a humorous, but touching story about how God provides.

 

³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.         NLT

 

That’s what the nuns were doing; that’s what we are to do. It’s not a formula. It’s how you live. Seek God. Then look to see how God is providing for you; how God is at work in your life. And like the lilies of the field, God will provide for you.




 
 

 

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To the Unknown God Within You

Exodus 20:2-4

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020%3A2-4&version=NIV;NASB

 

 

²² So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. ²³ For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Acts 17:22-23 NASB

 

Talk about hedging your bets. Just in case they didn’t have all the bases covered, the men of Athens had a place to worship the Unknown God. No doubt, that made them feel safer; more secure. And feeling secure is a big deal.

 

In America, normally you don’t find an idol or an object of worship set up in the house. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have them; they’re just more subtle.

 

The best way to self-evaluate is to take a look at your time, talent and treasure. Then ask yourself, how do you use them? Look at your calendar or checkbook or online banking account. How are you spending your time and your money? How do you use your talents?

 

John D. Rockefeller, was at one point the world’s richest man and first ever American billionaire.  Considering he was a billionaire in the early 1900’s he is still considered as the richest person in modern history.  When a reporter asked him, “How much money is enough?” He responded, “Just a little bit more.”

 

Whether it’s about money or something else, don’t we all feel that way at one time or another? But we are created for something more; something better; something bigger. Here is what Paul wrote to follow up his words about the Unknown God.

 

This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. ²⁴ “He is the God who made the world and everything in it... ²⁷ “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.  Acts 17:23-27 NLT

 

What is it that you want “just a little bit more” of? God wants the best there is for you. Should you settle for less?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Here's another thought on the same passage.)

 

The Promised Land

Exodus 20:2-4

 

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.          NASB

 

The land of Egypt was not only a house of slavery! It was a den of darkness; of depression; of desperation. It was a land of hopelessness and powerlessness. It was a land of futility without a future, where it was a struggle to see God at work.

 

You may have experienced a time in your own life when you felt like you were in the “land of Egypt”. I know I have. In college, my girlfriend unceremoniously dumped me for another guy. As a young married, our first born was still born. And later in life, as a middle aged man, I struggled with the depression.

 

God brought me through each of these times through the support and faith of people who became significant in my life. They were people who believed in me; saw something more going on than the circumstances around me; encouraged me to look to God, to His word, to His love and to His presence in my life.

 

³ “You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. NASB

 

God spoke these words to the nation of Israel after delivering them from the “house of slavery” of Egypt. He spoke these words as He prepared to take them from slavery into the Promised Land. And what are the first words out of His mouth? “You shall have no other gods before Me” or “make an idol”. And what is the first thing Israel does? They make the golden calf.

 

Think about that for a second. The Lord had already miraculously delivered them from Egypt. He was promising to take them to a “land of milk and honey”. Yet Israel turns to other gods. Are we any different? I think not.

 

The Lord spoke the words above to Israel, but also to us. Therefore, it is critical for us to

be vigilant; to be alert; to ask ourselves the tough questions. Are we slipping? Are we looking to other people, things or ourselves to find the Promised Land?

 

Listen closely for the answers; change what needs changing; and find the Lord your God.

 

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The Choice is Yours

Acts 13:44-52

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2013%3A44-52&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

Last week, when all the buzz was about the upcoming Ohio State/Penn State football game, the host of a local sports radio talk show told how he and his wife had recently

celebrated their daughter’s first birthday. Of course, even at the age of one, she is a HUGE Buckeye fan!

 

 

The brother-in-law, who IS a huge University of Michigan fan, gave his niece a stuffed U of M teddy bear and U of M pajamas. The mom was incensed, and told her brother that he wasted his money; that no daughter of hers would ever use anything with U of M on it.

 

The question was posed: Was it more important to be polite, or to ream out her brother? All the callers agreed… she did the right thing. But here’s the question that came to my mind: What is most important - family or football; relationships or rivalry?

 

In the Acts 13 passage, the phrase “the word of the Lord”, is repeated multiple times

implying the importance of it.

 

The word of the Lord gave Paul strength and focus in his life and ministry. It helped him to weather the hard times and move forward with purpose and power. It enabled him to be used by God impacting the lives of both Jews and Gentiles. Without the word of the Lord, Paul would have continued down his path of persecution, rather the road of redemption. Paul was a force to be reckoned with because of the word of the Lord.

 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.            John 1:14 NIV

 

Here’s how The Message interprets the first line of this verse: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” That picture brings it home and makes it very personal. The point is that the word of the Lord can’t be ignored.

 

So, regardless of whether you are a Buckeye fan or not, you must ask yourself the question - what is most important to me; the word of the Lord, or something else?

 

The choice is yours, but keep in mind that your answer will be life-changing.

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share the link with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/