Living with Need – Cross Walk Devotional

Do not bother about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall bother for itself. Enough unto the day is the evil thereof – Matthew 6:34

It all began with a huge doctor’s bill. Over the past few months I had been trying to do a better job at planning my finances. This had never been one of my strong points, but slowly, surely, I felt like I was starting to make progress toward becoming a true, dependent adult.

Then the doctor’s bill came. Aside from putting a huge dent in my finances, what made things even more infuriating was that I began to remember the appointment in question.

The doctor was almost two hours late and had left me waiting in one of those minor examination rooms, believing I’d die of old age before he arrived.

Next, there had been the tetanus report that left my arm feeling stiff and painful throughout the day. Now I was looking down at a small piece of paper that told me I was expected to pay a ridiculous sum of money for the inconvenience of both.

I decided the first thing to do was pray and ask God to help me with my finances. When I finished, I began flipping through my Bible for some logic of assurance.

I finally landed on this verse in Philippians:

I express joy in the Lord greatly that now at distance you have re-energized your worry for me. You were actually worried for me, but you had no chance. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in any kind of situation I am to be content.

I know how to be humbled, and I know how to flourish. In any and every situation, I have learned the secret of facing abundantly and starvation, wealth and need. Am able to do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Ye have done well that ye communicated with my affliction.

This was not the response I had hoped for. No one likes being told to tighten their belt, and as I began cleaning up my apartment I couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed at God. Midway through my work, I understood I had just enough food in my store, my rent was paid, and my car hadn’t died on me yet. So perhaps I’d have to eat remnants for a few meals or spend an evening studying instead of going out, so maybe I was living with a little bit of need; I had a lot more than many.

Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the ways God has blessed our lives. We worry about what we don’t have, instead of looking around and acknowledging what God has already provided. So when times of need start to make you uneasy remember that God will always provide, though not always in the way you might expect.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Count your blessings. There are almost surely more of them than it may seem