Grace and peace to you!
Yesterday I forgot my lunch at home. I was sitting in my office staring hungrily at an UberEats email ad on my screen, regretting my choices in life, and trying to fight off the urge to go out and buy lunch. Eventually I got a feeling that I should just wait, so I convinced myself that the cappuccino stick I had in my draw would suffice, and I tried to focus on finding a Newsletter topic instead of my grumbling tummy. It was at that point that a message came through on the staff group that there were cake and scones going wanting! (The folks who came to Coffee with Claire really needed to eat more!) At that point I was provided with both lunch, and a Newsletter topic!
“God will make a way” or “God will provide” is one of those adages that we all say when trying to bring comfort but not knowing how. Often, we do a dance between saying the words with conviction to bring hope, and with just enough open-endedness to avoid giving false-hope. And anyone hearing it just nods along, knowing you want to help, but don’t have the words for it.
The thing is, we say it, and sometimes we doubt it, but we know deep down, that it is true: God does provide. One of my dad’s favourite stories is that of George Müller. The priest who built churches and orphanages on faith. His story is an incredible one of trusting in the Lord to provide.
This is one of my favourite testimonies of his: one morning in the orphanage, they had no money to buy food for the children. But Müller insisted they sit down as if there was a wonderful meal coming. They all sat down at the breakfast table, and said grace, over empty plates. And as they finished, there was a knock on the door: It was the baker. He had had a feeling the night before, that God was telling him to make an extra batch of bread for the orphanage. So, he’d gotten up early and done so. As they all sat down to eat, there was another knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down outside, and he needed to offload the milk before it went off. Could he give it to the children?
We have all been in a situation where we have done our very best with what we were given, but it just isn’t working out. And it is hard to say, “Let’s hand it to the Lord” and trust in Him to provide, because we like having control over our situations. If I had been Müller in the situation above, I would not have been able to calmly sit down and say grace, I’d have been halfway down the street desperately trying to make a plan and would have completely missed the milk man and the baker. When it all seems impossible, sometimes the best thing we can do, is just sit down and pray. Sometimes provision requires patience and prayer.
I am not a fan of the idea of manifestation: Believing in something with such will that God will make it happen. God does not provide on our terms. When Jesus talks about moving mountains with mustard seed faith, it’s faith in His plan and not our own designs. It is important in any great plans or dark places that we find ourselves in the midst of, to take a step back and refocus.
Another of Müller’s experiences of God’s provision, was after he had just opened an orphanage (which was in itself a process that could only take place through repeated acts of Godly grace). At the time, the orphans’ only home was the streets. An unfair byproduct of the social structure of the time: orphans were everywhere and there was nowhere for them to go. Müller had just opened the orphanage and was standing at the door waiting for the halls to be filled with children in need of a home. But no-one came! He had put so much prayer and effort into raising this home, he realized he had forgotten to pray for children to know it was a safe place to come. Then after praying for God to provide, the home was filled. To the point where many more safe havens needed to be built over the following decades.
Here, Müller had already put in so much prayer and worked wonders with the “Talents” he had been given. But he almost lost sight of the purpose of the great project he was involved in. It took taking a step back, to refocus on the Godly goal, before the wonderful plan could come together.
As we each face our great plans or empty plates, I pray that we can refocus ourselves. That we can trust in the Lord to provide, and be open to the guiding of the Lord to help each other.
Much love in Christ
Heather