A seminary president wanted to understand the “hippy” phenomenon, so he asked one young hippy where she gets her food. She looked at him quizzically and said, Well, food is!
I think Jesus’ had this kind of attitude, and wants us his followers to think this way. Consider: You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. (He goes on to compare our lives to the lilies of the field, clothed by God, or to the birds of the air, fed by God.) So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. “Food is!” Better: God is!
In contrast, I met a Filipino who dared to talk about his situation. His wife had just returned from working overseas, to take care of their children. Now it was his turn to go again, after a number of jobs in Europe and the Middle East. He was nearly in tears. I wondered also what his children felt.
No doubt his wife and he were worried about their children’s educational and financial future. But I think they should have worried more about their emotional future and psychological and spiritual well-being. Better yet, obey Jesus and instead of worrying, Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Now I can imagine you saying, That’s easy for you to say. You aren’t dirt-poor, never having enough money; you probably have a nice retirement income. That’s true, but I know of people who lived by faith; some still do.
One was George Mueller, a 19th Century Christian who ran an orphanage and Christian schools in England, on sheer faith. He cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime and established 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000 children, many of whom were orphans.
“Müeller never made requests for financial support, nor did he go into debt, even though the five homes cost more than £100,000 to build. Many times, he received unsolicited food donations only hours before they were needed to feed the children, further strengthening his faith in God. Müeller was in constant prayer that God touch the hearts of donors to make provisions for the orphans. For example, on one well-documented occasion, thanks was given for breakfast when all the children were sitting at the table even though there was nothing to eat in the house. As they finished praying, the baker knocked on the door with sufficient fresh bread to feed everyone, and the milkman gave them plenty of fresh milk because his cart broke down in front of the orphanage.” (Wikipedia)
(Next week, more stories and biblical teachings on faith.)
