I don’t think I fully understood this scripture until I was much older. When I was a young preacher I had to believe God for each morsel of bread I put in my mouth. I thought this scripture only worked in proportion to the level of faith I had for my provision. Faith is certainly a major part of receiving from God, and I do not want to minimize that. However, after having ministered for almost fifty years I think I may have missed what David was trying to say. Hebrews 11:6 says, “…without faith it is impossible to please [God]….” No doubt our faith is pleasing to God, but His love and dedication to our well being far outweighs any level of faith we may have to motivate Him.
I think maybe David was trying to tell us that God wants to provide for us because it is His nature as a Father. Fathers usually want their children to be blessed and have more than enough. It is a very comforting thought…to know that our heavenly Father is looking out for our needs and at times even our wants.
There seems to be at least two ways to express one’s faith. The first way to express our faith is by believing that the Lord wants to do good things for us.
The other type of faith is what I call a forced faith. This means that you believe God is going to provide for you, but you have never developed a father-son relationship with Him. In other words you do not walk in the cool of the day with Him and talk to Him and find out what is on His mind. However, in spite of that, you believe He is going to provide for you because you believe His word.
Everything takes a measure of faith and I certainly do not want to minimize that. But, on the other hand, I believe we need to be careful lest we use our faith in an unrighteous way. The way to use your faith in an unrighteous way is by expecting God to provide for you, but you refuse to develop a close relationship with Him.
As I look back over the years I realize that God provided bread and provision for me before I even knew Him as Lord. Maybe this is what David was talking about. As strange as this may sound, although I remember as a young child going without food many times, I cannot ever remember being hungry. I think maybe this could even be a part of what David was talking about. Perhaps my heavenly Father was feeding me with a spiritual food that was so satisfying that my natural hunger was erased.
If that was the case, then maybe those who read this should be encouraged that “God is no respecter of persons.” If you are going through dark times and your faith is low, God is more than willing to feed you with His spiritual food. Praise God!
Perfecting faith is a journey and not a destination.
Even though God provides for me today in a different way than He did in my past, I shall never forget the joy of learning to walk by faith. He taught me how to believe Him and rejoice even for the small things. Because of those lessons, I have developed a grateful and thankful heart even for the small things of life.
Father,
I realize that living by faith is much harder for some people that it is for others. I thank you Lord for trusting me with this ‘faith lesson’ and for teaching me to expect your precious provision every day. I also realize that each of us is called to challenges that perhaps someone else is not called to. Lord you taught me how to wait for the daily bread that you had already prepared for me. Thank you Lord.
Amen.
“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” Ps 37:25 NIV
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