God Will Provide

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

—1 Peter 5:6-7

One of my favorite hymns begins with, “What a friend we have in Jesus/All our sins and griefs to bear/What a privilege to carry/Everything to God in prayer.” I can remember my mother playing this on the piano when I was growing up. It was her favorite to play, and it would reverberate through the house when she was playing it. I love the simple message in the song. The hymn was originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother, who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. It has also provided me, and many others, with comfort over the years.

We worry too much. We are always afraid of what the future holds. Even the most level-headed of people have worries, whether they outwardly show it or not. The American actress and comedian, Gilda Radner, who died of cancer in 1989, is quoted as saying, “I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.”

Trusting in God plan for us is what makes the unknown, as Radner called it, “Delicious Ambiguity.” Numbers 6:24-26 God told Moses to tell the Israelites, “The Lord blesses you and keeps you; the Lord makes His face shines upon you and is gracious to you; the Lord looks upon you with favor and gives you peace.” When we have anxiety and doubt, remember Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”