It was the beginning of our second week here. I had just finished teaching my afternoon English class, and I was hungry and exhausted. I still had one more English class to teach that evening, and I knew it would still be a few more hours before I would be able to eat, so prayed for the Lord to sustain me and provide for me so that I could be fully present in my class and teach my students with a joyful heart.
A few of my teammates and I hopped into the back of Nhor’s little white truck and headed to one of the churches where we teach our evening classes (check out my last blog post about Nhor, “He Gave Us Fish”). When we turned down the road and arrived at the church, we passed by a tiny little shack right down the street. I could see the bags of strange Cambodian chips and pre-packaged pastry-like things hanging on the walls of the shop, and immediately the internal conflict began.
I knew those things would not sustain me. I had asked the Lord to provide and somehow I knew He would. But it was right there, and I was hungry! I debated with myself for a few minutes until finally caving in to fulfill my earthly desire.
I hopped out of the back of the truck and was just about to head over to the little shop when Nhor stepped out of the cab of the truck, reached back into the front seat and pulled out three whole watermelons!!
The four of us cheered in excitement—it felt like it had been a lifetime since we’d had watermelon, and we just couldn’t contain ourselves! Nhor set them down on the bed of the truck and started cutting them up for us right there.
I was overjoyed. We ate to our hearts’ content, and I was so much more than satisfied. I wouldn’t have thought a few little watermelons would be enough to fill me and satisfy me, but somehow they did.
This may seem like such a silly and trivial part of my day, but through it the Lord told me so much. He told me that He cares for me, even in the seemingly little, insignificant things. He told me that yes, I could do all of this on my own if I really wanted to. I could rely on my own strength and try to fill myself with the things of this earth, and maybe I’d do just fine. But what He has for me is so much better!!
What the Lord provides satisfies, nourishes, and brings JOY and LIFE!!!
This month, the Lord is teaching me all about living in ABUNDANCE. So it’s perfectly fitting that this is the month that I would be FULLY FUNDED!! He continues to show me that the things He has for us are far better than anything we could possibly give ourselves, and they’re better than anything anyone else in this world could give us, too.
He’s showing me that He’s constantly trying to lavish us with His love and shower us in His good gifts, but we have to lift our eyes up off our own feet in order to see them.
So let’s choose to rely on Him to fulfill our needs and desires rather than on ourselves. Let’s choose to fill ourselves with the things of the Lord, not the things of this earth. When we ask, let’s ask with expectancy, knowing that He will provide—because He WILL! No matter how small and insignificant it may seem, know that He cares.
And He will always come through.
