I have come to realise how dependent I have become on things…
I proclaim that God is my provision, that I have nothing if not from God, but still look to worldly things to supply me with sustenance. It’s a small and easy transition but instead of taking care of a resource, I start to depend on the resource.
Instead of being a good steward of the resource, I become a slave to the provision.
God gives each one of us a field to prepare and use. This field is our knowledge, our skills, our time… and we work this field so that it produces a harvest in abundance. But then we start to get fat on this abundance, and we start to depend on its ability to feed us.
But here’s the thing… it became a source of abundance so that we could bless others with it, and take care of others with it, not build a dependency on it. We had nothing, God provided. And He provided so abundantly that we could keep others alive on the harvest as well.
But when we replace God with our field… can I be upset that God takes my field back? … to save my life…?
There is a clear distinction between what God has put in our charge, and where our provision comes from. God is our provider. Always…
Not our business, not our bank account, not our field. All of these will perish. We only have them for a season in any case and then they will go away… but Christ will never ever leave us hanging in the breeze because one season follows another, and each prepares us for the next.
In John 10:28 Jesus speaks about His flock, His sheep and says “…I give to them the gift of eternal life and they will never be lost and no one has the power to snatch them out of my hands…”
And as if He needs to qualify why it is impossible to take us from Jesus, He explains:
“…My Father, who has given them to me as his gift, is the mightiest of all, and no one has the power to snatch them from my Father’s care…” (v29)
The Greek there is beautiful… Literally, Jesus is Saying that no-one has the power to take us from His hand because we were a gift to Him from God, His Father, and no-one has the power or ability to steal us from the Father’s care.
I need to keep my eyes up. I need to keep my eyes on God. I need to focus on Him and only Him. Remember why you have the field, Sean! It’s to provide for others, not yourself. God will provide for me!
