The Lord will provide

On Sunday, Phil Ryken preached from Luke 12: 22-34, the wonderful passage in which Jesus tells his followers not to be anxious buy rather to seek God's Kingdom and to trust Him to provide for their needs. It set off a whole series of memories for me. It is a passage of Scripture that I have held on to for many years.

Phil gave a great message on that passage and I wrote to him to express my appreciation.

Dear Phil,

Thank you for your sermon on Sunday morning. I was deeply blessed by it and the Lord used it to remind me of His priorities in my life. Among other things, I’m apartment hunting again, and am trying to keep within my current price range. Everything I’ve looked at so far has been way out of my price range, and to take a more expensive apartment would mean cutting back my giving, which would be a real skewing of priorities. Being reminded of the couple who decided against using their funds to buy a bigger house and to send the money to the Schaeffers instead was an illustration that I needed to hear at that point in time.

And the hymns that you chose were right on! The Neumark hymn was practically my theme song as I prayed in the funds to finish college and it brought back memories of my not knowing where the money would come from and God providing at just the right time. "God never yet forsook at need the soul that trusted Him indeed."

The closing hymn (Though troubles assail us and dangers affright...The Lord will provide!") was my theme song during my Florence years. I needed to sing it often and loudly in my devotions as a reminder that I was depending on God’s promises, not on my own efforts. And it was wonderful testimony. I kept an open house for students, travelers, artists and au pair girls. Most of the time people came to meals, Bible studies, or other activities and were content to be welcomed. Occasionally someone would ask, “So who pays for all this?” and I would reply:

“I’m here because God has made some wonderful promises in the Bible to people who will trust him, including to provide for all our needs. He promised to clothe us like He clothes the flowers of the field, and feed us like He feeds the birds of the air. I’m able to be here because I believe that God is true to His word. On the human level, of course, the funds come from people who know I’m here and want to support this work, but I don’t solicit funds, I pray and ask God to move people’s hearts to give. And He has always provided enough for me and enough to share with people like you.”

God does, of course, clothe us like he clothes the flowers of the field. During my Florence years, my wardrobe was a source of embarrassment to my Italian friends, who dress very elegantly. I know I looked like a ragamuffin much of the time. In spring of 1977, the Tenth missions commission invited me to come back for missions week that autumn. My one problem was what would I wear to speak at Tenth Church? At that point I didn’t even own a dress, nor could I afford one, but I prayed and reminded the Lord of His promise to clothe His children. I also went out shopping and found a wonderful dress and put a deposit on it. I came home and told my roommate about it: “But it costs more than I have ever paid for a dress.” (Said she who dressed from thrift shops or else made my own clothes) “But that’s what dresses cost, silly.” So I prayed. About a week later, a gift came from a couple at Tenth Church who had heard exaggerated reports of Cora’s wardrobe from my summer helpers from the year before. “You don’t have to live like a little sister of poverty. Please use this to buy some clothes.” And it paid for the dress. Actually, I still have that dress. It survived the fire in August 2003. I don’t ever want to let go of it, because it is tangible proof that God keeps His promises.

Cora