Only What We Need

“Provide me only with the food I need.” (Proverbs 30:8) 

There is so much wisdom in these words. When we fail to keep our eyes focused on today then we easily lose sight of God. In the Our Father, the perfect prayer given to us by Christ himself, we pray to give us this day our daily bread because this is all we need. When we look ahead we often get anxious especially when things are tight financially. How are we going to pay for our son’s college? What if the electricity is turned off in the midst of the sweltering Texas heat? When my husband’s company closed down I had to fight the anxiety that sometimes filled my heart. The more I prayed for peace and focused on the gifts God had given us each day, the less anxious I was. I knew in my head that God always provides but I began to believe it in my heart, too, and that made a huge difference.

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Give me neither poverty nor riches; lest being full I deny you, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8-9)

It is often in the extremes of life that we stumble. When things are going well, according to the world’s standards, we are healthy and have a great job making lots of money so we can buy whatever we want, take trips, party, etc. During these times we often inflate our ego. We become prideful and think that these things are the result of our own doing and forget to be thankful. Or we may know that they are gifts from God but somehow think we deserve them or have earned them by being good. We forget to use the gifts that God has given us for His glory, not our own. We feed our own wants instead of those truly in need. And during the other extremes we often lose sight of our Maker; when life is hard and we don’t know where our next meal is going to come from or how we are going to pay for our medication or get to work because our car is out of gas or broken down. We don’t know how we are going to get through the day without our loved one who has died or endure another night of abuse. During these times it is easy to fall into despair and curse God. So we pray for the grace to get through each day trusting that God will always provide. Sometimes we pray to get through the next few minutes because getting through the day seems overwhelming. May we pray that we remain humble and when the Lord blesses us abundantly that we share our treasures with those in need. This is the way of righteousness.