Currently, I’m living in a time of need and want. I don’t have enough for what I need. I have a loan payment coming up, I still have fundraising for my last trip, and I don’t have money to get where I believe I’m supposed to go. I have a choice to make now: do I choose to worry about what I don’t have and the unknown of the future? Or do I trust that I know Jehovah Jireh has led me down this path and He WILL provide as He has promised?
When I choose to focus on what I don’t have, I miss what’s right in front of me and what I’ve been given. So what do I have? I have Jehovah Jireh and I know with everything in me that He’s more than enough. I choose to give thanks when I don’t have enough because I already have everything I need in Him! So I say this with Paul:
“…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in want and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
I know what it means to live in want. And I know what it is to have plenty-even excess. But here’s the secret of being content in both situations: in Christ ALL my needs are met and I can make it through with Him as my Rock.
Lately, He’s reminding and inviting me to enter His rest by faith and obedience. For example, faith that He says He knows my needs and obedience of the command not to worry. However, when I focus on what I don’t have, I start to feel anxious and I do worry. There’s no rest in anxiousness and worry. It’s an endless cycle that is self-perpetuating. All He wants for me is rest. So I choose faith and obedience! Today, I choose His rest!
I can also say this with Paul, “I do not say this because I am seeking a gift. Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account.” What I mean is this: I’m not saying any of this because I want you to give me a gift. I’m saying it to encourage you in your journey toward more rest through faith and obedience. When you obey, you find rest. Only move where He says to move. Only stay where He says to stay. Be encouraged! Enter his rest!
