The Father looks after us – 14 September 2020

Over these past few months, my perspective about a lot of things changed quite dramatically. Many things that I accepted as part of everyday life suddenly took on a new meaning. Contact with family, friends and colleagues at the office was suddenly cut off. Socialising around a small fire, chance meetings at the supermarket and our planned visit to the family farm in Namibia, were not possible any more. I am glad that we have new technology like Zoom, so that we could carry on with our Bible Study group, but it is just not the same as being able to sit around a table with fellow Christians. To go out every day, to buy fresh bread was suddenly an issue. Which way would the scale tip if I put the yearning for a slice of fresh bread against the possibility of contracting the virus?

It was also time to look at the importance of many other things. I suddenly realised that my life had been cluttered with too many possessions, much of it junk. After the first, very strict lockdown was over, and it was possible to go to the rubbish dump again, I literally carted away a few ‘bakkieloads’ of junk to the tip. You have probably also gone through the worry of a lifetime of savings suddenly losing much of its value.

During this time, I was confronted by this verse from the Gospel according to Luke.

Unbeliever would Jesus call me if I put too much emphasis on possessions, and unbeliever He would call me if I did not trust God for my daily needs. I grew up in a poor household, but not for a single day was I worried that my parents would not be able to put food on the table for us, so why doubt God’s ability to provide for me. In a previous verse-a-day, we saw that we are His children who have a right to his legacy. We are in the front of the queue when he hands out grace and the promise of heaven, but I still worry about food on the table, and if I would be able to pay my account at the municipality. How strange we can be sometimes.

Prayer: Thank you, my Father, who art in heaven, that I may ask: give me today my daily bread, and please help me to really believe that You will always do so. Please help me to be free from yearning for many possessions. Amen