Christ's gracious provisions

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Here the apostle tells us that we should avoid anxious thoughts, thoughts that distract us and move us away from God. Instead we should focus on what God has done for us, asking Him to provide for our needs and allowing His peace to rule in our hearts and minds.

The story is told of a father of a wealthy family who took his son on a trip to the country to show his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon.

"We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond sight. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, but they have their friends to protect them."

With this, the boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

[Ron Blue, Faith-based Family Finances (Tyndale, 2008), pp. 29-30]

The father thought he was going to teach his son a lesson, but it was the son who taught his father. For the son didn’t look at the material things of life, but of the things to be enjoyed. He saw what God provided to those who had less money and what he saw was peace and contentment.

Money is not what brings happiness into our lives. Instead it is a relationship with Jesus Christ who shows us what is good and right. We are to fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable and avoid what the world would have us see instead. May you always be reminded of Christ’s love for you and the gracious provisions He places in your life.