What Now? Humble Trust

 Wouldn't it be nice if God just did what we asked on our time schedule? We ask for good things and it often seems to take an extraordinary amount of time before anything happens. There are those moments when the Lord seems to answer even before we ask. However, it is not unusual for us to sit in  that heavenly waiting room to receive some response from the Almighty. As we have noted, 2020 has been a difficult year for many people and God's people are not exempt. For some, the turmoil from the American election goes on unabated. In addressing these things there are still things we can do. Advancing God's kingdom does not stop due to a virus or the outcome of an election. With that in mind we have been looking to the familiar verses of Matthew 6:9-13, what is commonly known as, "The Lord's Prayer".

First, we are called to keep going forward, knowing that our heavenly Father is with us. By His holy name we can find comfort and purpose. Second, we were reminded to advance His kingdom. We can do so in a variety of ways, one being the opportunity and responsibility to live out the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. The world needs to see the children of God putting, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, on display. The Lord's encouraging words go on to instruct us to pray for God to give us our daily bread and to be those whose lives are marked by forgiveness. They are examples of holding a humble trust for the God and Father Who loves us.

For some of us praying for, "Our daily bread", might seem a bit of a waste of time. After all many of us live beyond abundance. Finding daily bread might seem easier that trying to curb the intake of bread to help reduce our waste-lines. The phrase would be more meaningful if we were Jewish folk following Messiah Jesus around the highways and byways of Judea. Daily bread was an absolute necessity for the Hebrews during forty years of wilderness wanderings. Manna was the daily bread that came down from heaven to allow the children of Israel to survive. Without God's daily provision the people would have perished. It was a powerful reminder that they were fully dependent upon the Lord for their survival. If you have food in the cupboard such dependence and trust might seem unnecessary. We live in the illusion of self sufficiency. It is humbling to recognize our dependence upon God. Jesus is our bread from heaven. We need Him daily, moment by moment, if we are to survive in this fallen world. John 6:35 explains, "And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." We need to be humble, trusting, dependent, people if we are to advance His kingdom and move forward in the days to come.

Humility is one of those difficult things to foster and integrate into our lives. We prefer to be independent and self sufficient. This trait may become glaringly obvious when someone offends us. We say things like, "I don't get mad, I get even" or "I can forgive but I will never forget". We hang onto offenses and irritations like they were precious metals. Morbid jewels infesting our lives or closeted away in lock boxed memories. The guardian of pride protects the hurt and eventually sucks the very life from our bones. The Lord knows the danger. Thus, He instructs us to forgive those who have trespassed or become indebted to our wounded spirits. It takes a humble person to forgive. It is often much easier to proudly hold onto the trespass or emotional debt we maintain in their account. It is wise to remember this warning from James, "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). If we are to ask our Heavenly Father's forgiveness we must forgive others as well. We cannot move forward anchored to past hurts and preserved transgressions.

The New Year is approaching. Many are praying this would be a year of revival and the outpouring of God's Spirit in new and refreshing ways. To see God's will done here on earth as it is in heaven. If we are to be a part of that revival or to have the power of prayer with us, we need to be those who live with humble trust. To come to the Lord fresh every morning asking to to nourished by the very Bread of Heaven Who rescues our souls. We must be those quick to forgive and slow to take offense. To follow Paul's directions to the Ephesians in 4:32, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." 

There are yet a few more  forward thoughts here in Matthew 6, but this is enough to think about for this week. What now? Maybe we need a little more of that humble trust and forgiving spirit if we are to advance God's kingdom in the days to come. 

Daily Bread or What's For Dinner?

What things are on your daily prayer list? Maybe members of your family, someone struggling, your nation, these are all important and even have some Biblical support. What about bread? Jesus told His disciples that their prayer was to include this request,"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Praying to and honoring our Heavenly Father seems appropriate. Praying for His Kingdom and will to be done seems like that should be a priority as well. But daily bread? I mean, this does not seem like a real problem for most of us. Bread is readily available in a variety of shapes, flavors, with and without gluten. Then add pastries, donuts, bagels, and desserts and I have more bread than I should even eat. At the time of the writing of Matthew bread was a needed staple of life. There were occasional famines however, with the size and network that was the Roman Empire, bread could usually be found. So why would the disciples be instructed to pray for bread every day?

Bread was actually a pretty big deal when Rabbi Jesus spoke these words. Bread meant a great deal to the Jews. There was the Feast of Unleavened Bread that they were required to keep. The traditional Seder meal had a focus on the bread. The Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder that God had provided bread, manna, everyday for forty years as they wandered in the wilderness. Bread was simply woven into Jewish society and culture in a way that elevated this common food to something that carried a special meaning several times a year. Jesus, would refer to himself as "The bread of life" in John 6:35, and "the bread that comes down from heaven" (John 6:41). We remember the Lord's death with the breaking of bread, as He instructed us to. God uses bread to illustrate the common and basic needs of life. He lets us know that this bread is also true of His Son. Meaning our very lives are dependent upon God's Son.

Praying, "Give us this day our daily bread" can actually be a very meaningful prayer. Bread is essential for survival. Starvation is not a pleasant thought. However, the application of the prayer goes well beyond what is for dinner. It ca be a reminder of just how dependent we are upon the Lord to provide for us. Every breath, every heart beat, is a gift from Him. When we come to a place where we think little about our daily needs we can miss the reality that we really are totally dependent upon our Heavenly Father and His Son for everything in life, and the life yet to come. We also miss how remarkably gracious He is, how dependable and trustworthy He is. The reason I do not think much about bread is due to the fact that it is always available. Just as the True Bread form Heaven is with me every moment of every day. Perhaps, there is a good reason to place this request into our daily prayers. God's faithfulness can easily be overlooked and even forgotten. He is my bread of life every day of my life. It seems to me that the Lord is directing us to pause during our busy days and thank God for the wonder of His daily Bread. It certainly couldn't hurt. It might even help to remind us of the constant care of our Heavenly Father.

Do We Really Want Our Daily Bread?

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11).

A part of a prayer that Messiah taught when His disciples asked Him how to pray. Most of us do not want daily bread. We much prefer weekly bread or twelve baskets of left overs. Daily bread is an uneasy, even scary existence. We want to know that we have enough to last for a while. Many tell us it is best to have a year's worth of income and even food set aside so that we can live between jobs or through some earthly catastrophe. I am old enough to remember my dad's plans for a bomb shelter in case the Russians dropped "the big one". We never actually built one, but our neighbor did. A hole to crawl into and survive for a year until the radiation subsided. It is true that the Word of God tells us to be prepared. Luke 14:28-32 reminds us to count the cost, to not begin building if we cannot finish the project or for a king to negotiate peace when he is vastly outnumbered. We are told to be good stewards and to plan. Yet, that is not to be the motivation for our lives. Looking forward to having enough money to stop working and live a life of ease and a bit of self indulgence is hard to find in Scripture. You will not find a positive example of anyone who banks his resources so he can live a life of ease. Actually the man with the big barns tells us otherwise (see Luke 12: 15-21).

It is indeed a good thing to plan, to "count the cost". However, God seems to be more concerned with us living in the world of "daily bread". Messiah reminds us , "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). We are to live for each day. It is not that we do not plan, but that our plans for the future should not cloud the reality of living for today. Jeremiah says, God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). God does not give us mercies to store or hoard for times when they are needed; we get a fresh supply every morning, because we need His mercy all the time. We can count upon God's mercies for they will never fail, they will never be in short supply for those who love Him. Our culture drives us to look toward the future rather than living for today. So we sacrifice today to take the promotion, to earn more money, to have more security in the future, at the cost of today. Then we live in the big house all alone. The time we sacrificed with those who needed us has reaped its reward. They have grown up, grown apart and moved away. We give up our daily bread for bigger barns only to find the cost was more than we intended.

The children of God had not listened. They had given into fear and not trusted God to take them into the promised land. A generation would die because they could not trust God in the moment of decision. The giants won without a battle. Now a new generation must learn to trust so when their moment came they would not fail, they would be able to trust the Lord their God for great things. So God devised a plan to teach them. He called it "manna". It was God's mercy, new every morning. It was their "daily bread". It was a lesson to teach them of their dependence upon the Lord day by day. They had to learn to live in the moment as they prepared for the future. Each day in the wilderness was a reminder that life was more than collecting possessions. No, life was to be lived day by day.

Our lives are not really lost in big pieces but moment by moment. I have yet to meet anyone at the end of their years who wished he had spent more time away from his children and his wife to pursue his career rather than the little league game or ballet recital. Or anyone who regretted having not vacuumed or dusted or chased after job titles and community events rather than reading "One Fish Two Fish" one more time. And now, as the nest grows empty, we realize that, in our quest for tomorrow we offered up today on the altar of our own desires. We try to somehow hoard our daily bread, to save today's supply for another day. We find, as the Israelites did, that what we thought we saved has turned rotten and reeks of the decay of lost opportunities and lost relationships. We need to learn the lesson of daily bread.

In evangelical circles we look forward to "heaven", even though that is not our eternal destination. We plan for retirement and wait for God to make things better and new. We cannot wait for our new bodies, free from the aches and pains from passing years. We look forward to the time when God will set things right and justice will prevail. We endure today with a hope for tomorrow. We long for the bread of the future and miss our daily bread. Yeshua said He was the Bread of heaven. He is my daily supply for life on this planet here and now. He provides my daily need for mercy and for life. He provides for my future as well, but not at the expense of the moment. He wants me to learn the lesson He taught His people in the wilderness. "You have to depend on Me every day." "I will provide what you need for the moment." "You must walk in dependence." "You may need to sacrifice what you thought was your future to live for today." " Relationship with Me and the ones I have called you to love is your daily bread." "Your daily responsibility must begin with being nourished with  the Bread from heaven to get you through just one more day." However, to be honest, I often focus on tomorrow's needed bread. I need to learn to plan for a future but live in the moment, for that is where my Messiah is.

I write this while enjoying some time with my family on the outer beaches of North Carolina. It has been a yearly place of retreat and refreshment. It holds twenty-three years of memories from tiny footprints in the sand to quiet morning walks on the beach with my children as they moved toward adulthood. They are treasured times that are harder to come by. I have the joy of my eldest and my youngest joining me here. I had hoped my "middlest" child could come as well. She could not get time off from work. I suggested that she could tell them that she had received a call from her parents saying that they did not know how much longer her father would live and they would likely give her the time off. It is true. Even though I am active, healthy, riding my bike about ten miles a day and exercising. Oh, and all those numbers my doctor watches are fine so I am told I am in great health "for my age". Even so, life is uncertain. I do not know how much longer I will live. And neither do you. (I should note that my daughter is in NY at work. We did not carry out the ruse. Nor am I suggesting this as a means for you to get time away from your responsibilities.) All I need is my "daily bread". That is what I am told to pray for. That comes with promised daily mercy and the privilege of  not only enjoying the "Bread from Heaven" in the morning but moment by moment throughout my day.

Daily bread is really a moment by moment life in dependence upon the Giver of life. Yes, it is wise to plan for the future, but never at the expense of the present. Never at the expense of the moment. "Give us this day our daily bread". Are we really satisfied with our Daily Bread? Is a life of dependence really our desire? Is the Bread from Heaven enough for today or are you trying to store up manna for the future while you sacrifice today? Ask the Israelites how well that worked and get back to me.