On Wednesday night Glenn and I were talking about the future and money. Never an easy topic for anyone, but our conversation went much like it does in most people’s houses. We were concerned about how we were going to make ends meet in the future. Will there be enough? How can we make sure there is enough? What are our priorities? How should we move forward? Will God really supply all our needs? It’s not a finance thing, it’s a faith thing. It’s not whether there are enough dollars in our bank account but is there enough faith in our souls to believe we can move forward in the way God has called us and believe he has it covered, even if it doesn’t seem possible. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19. It’s right there in black and white, we just have to believe it. Anyway, at that time we were finding it hard to believe. We were making plans about how we could fix the situation ourselves rather than just trusting and resting in his provision. It’s a dangerous place to be when we try to run ahead of God, just ask Abraham.
The next morning I was running out of the house to get groceries quickly before I continued with the million other things I needed to accomplish that day. I got to Aldi and realized I had forgotten my grocery bags. (If you’ve never been to Aldi, you need to take your own grocery bags, as they don’t give them to you there) So I decided I didn’t have a choice but to just get the groceries I needed, which was enough for all 9 of us for a week, and just put them into the car loose. I knew it wasn’t ideal but it’s all I could do. So, I got my groceries and rolled my cart out to the car. At that point I was thinking how nice it would be to not have a minivan but to have a trunk where I could put these groceries and they wouldn’t roll everywhere by the time I got home. But life must go on so I began to put groceries one by one into the van. Just then my sister in law walked up. She asked me where my bags were, and I told her. She said, “you know, I was driving here wondering why I brought all my bags when I only need a couple things”. She brought me her bags and I was rescued from lost avocados rolling all over my van that I would find only weeks later because of the smell.
I realized in that moment that God doesn’t just care about the big things, but the small things as well. In the grand scheme of life those grocery bags weren’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t a life and death situation, well maybe for the avocados. I could have dealt with the situation and it wouldn’t have been that big of a thing. I wouldn’t have remembered it a year later. But God. God saw my situation and sent my sister with bags. He cares not only about the cancer diagnosis or the lost job but he cares about the forgotten grocery bags. It was a situation I had gotten myself into after all, it was me who had forgotten the bags. But he saw me in my sad situation and probably felt pity. He knows I’m running around like a crazy person because my life is crazy with a husband, six kids two of which have special needs, a mom to care for and a crazy puppy. He knows I’m just barely making it some days. I don’t have to tell Him, He sees it. I didn’t even pray about the grocery bags. I didn’t think it was something that required prayer. I probably should have but I was trying to clean up my own mess, my way. It is my default after all, to try to clean up my own situations. I am far too independent and self sufficient, at least in my own mind. But He knows that, He made me like that. He sees me trying to figure out how to make ends meet and gently tells me, through grocery bags, that He’s got this. He’s got even the grocery bags. I didn’t NEED those bags, but they sure made life easier. He even cares about those things in our lives that would make our lives easier, not just our clothing and food.
Are you trying to run ahead of God and figure out how to make ends meet in a situation? Just rest in the fact that God sees it. He has a plan, even for the smallest details. He cares about it all. He will reveal his plan at the exact moment you need it. When you are loading the groceries into the car, He will supply the bags, but you have to step forward in what He has called you to. You have to step out and buy the groceries even if you don’t have the bags to put them in yet. Faith requires action first. Take the step He has told you to take and He will be there to supply what you have need of.