Big Promises...Little Faith

Have you noticed the increase in the storage unit business across the United States? It seems to be common everywhere that people need more and more space to store their stuff. Is that because their homes are smaller than ever before? I don’t think so. At least where we live, I am often surprised at the large size of homes that are being built on lots that don’t seem to be much larger than postage stamps. What is going on? I think we are in a real battle between our wants and our needs.

What is your definition of success? Does it include your income? Is the neighborhood you live in thrown in there? How about the car you drive? Maybe its how many storage units you can fill up?

All the while we are left wondering if we have enough. Can we ever really have enough?

This is not an uncommon human problem. Think about the children of Israel as they are wandering in the wilderness. God tells us them that He will provide a bread-like food called manna for them every day. On six out of seven days every week they are to take only enough for their family that day. What happens when they take too much? It spoils making a nasty and smelly mess overnight. They knew this in advance and they actually took more than they needed? Yes, and their neighbors greatly regretted it.

Why would they do this?

There are several possibilities here. Perhaps they didn’t trust God. They didn’t believe that He would actually provide for them the next day. What if He overslept one day or was just too busy working on some other project. They needed to take matters into their own hands to make sure their needs are met. This led them to falsely believe that they were the only ones that could adequately care for their own needs so they stored more than they needed. In essence, they turned from trusting God to trusting themselves.

Isn’t that the root of many of our fears, worries and anxieties? We want to provide for ourselves even though we are often powerless to do so. I can’t end a drought or cause a tsunami to turn back. I can’t control how long I am going to live or what the economy is going to do in three months. Yet, I worry as if I can. I waste tons of thought and energy fearing that my little kingdom will fall apart if I can’t get a grip on these things.

Why don’t I trust God more than I do? He has certainly proved to be faithful in the past. Why would He be any different in the future? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save and prepare for the future. After all, it was God that gave us the intelligence to plan. We must be cautious in our planning though. Are we planning for our wants or for our needs? And, one more time for me…the slow learner, who promises to provide our needs? In Matthew 6:32, Jesus says that God knows our needs and will provide for us. What should we get busy doing? We should go to work seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in our life daily and start finding ways to turn in the keys to our storage buildings.