God Is Our Provider

I'm sure we have all had days where we feel less than equipped to be a mom.  After all, everyone says 'just follow your instinct' - well, that's great and all if I had an instinct to follow :)  or if I didn't second guess what my instinct was telling me to do :)  No really though... we do have an instinct - In my opinion its also called a judgement or conscience.  Today's devotional is centered around God being our provider when we feel we need something we do not have, no matter what it is. 
 
"One day the widow of one of Elisha's fellow Prophets came to Elisha and cried out to him.  "My husband who served you is dead, and you knew how he feared the Lord.  But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves."
        "What can I do to help you?" Elisha asked.  "Tell me, what do you have in the house?" 
        "Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil," she replied.     
          Elisha said, "Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors.  Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you.  Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting jars aside as they are filled."
          So she did as she was told.  Her sons brought many jars to her, and she filled one after the other.  Soon every container was full to the brim!
          When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and there will be enough money left over to support you and your sons."

                                                                                                           2 Kings 4:1-7         

 

Wow - talk about providing a need.  If only that could happen with formula or breast milk, right?  :) Only kidding.  The lesson here though is that God took care of the family of someone who had cared deeply for him and more importantly asked him for help.  They were a household who loved and served the Lord.  I think another lesson in this scripture and how it applies to us is yes, as believers we believe in Gods provision and his ability to help us but- that doesn't mean we don't need to do our own set of work to allow his plan and work to be done.  We cant sit around expecting Gods blessings to fall in our lap.  We need to be praying about it and doing all we can to work towards our need.  Also, something that brought me more peace than anything is this from Karols book, " Finally, we can draw encouragement from the way that God took what little this woman had and multiplied it abundantly.  We may think we have little to offer.  But God can take our simple love, faith, and obedience and multiply it into significant blessings for our home". 

 

In my mind, that means even the small things count.  I don't know what you need or what your family might need but make sure God does.  He can provide for us as long as we are willing and open to accepting what he can offer.  Listen for his guidance and be willing to accept what he tells you to do. That mommy instinct I talked about above-that might just be God telling us what to do - I guess we should listen to it! :)

 

Choices:

- This week I will choose to look to God as my provider.

- This week I will choose to faithfully obey what he leads me to do.

- This week I will choose to teach my children about God's faithfulness. 

 

Prayer:    

"Wonderful Lord and Perfect Provider, I praise you for your tender love and care for me.  I praise you for your magnificent power that is able to take what little I have to offer and use it in a wonderful way.  Thank you for looking after the needs of my family.  Help me to live in faithful obedience to you.  In Jesus's name I pray, amen."