God, Who Richly Provides Us with Everything

I've expressed on here my continual struggle with worry, over the future, over money mostly.  I just get to wondering about how we'll pay for this or that, how we'll provide for ourselves.

More than once, actually many times, God had spoken to us by providing something we didn't expect, at the exact time we needed it.  Just yesterday I got an email offering me a job at the campus library next semester.  I've wanted to work in a library for years, and it will be a far nicer job than the one I currently have at the cafeteria.  God's timing is perfect- as always!

I like using my concordance to look up passages containing certain words, and today I looked up "provides" and was led to 1 Timothy 6:17-19, which reads:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

Now, by the standards of people living in a third-world country I'm incredibly rich.  By U.S. standards, I'm average, although in terms of what's in my bank account I'm pretty poor at the moment.  But I still have so much.  And I think what Timothy was trying to express in this passage, at least what I'm getting out of it, is to hope in God, not in physical wealth or money.  God will provide everything we need for life and for enjoyment.  What matters to him is not how much money we have, but the treasures we're laying up in heaven.

Matthew chapter six speaks to both these issues.  Jesus says in 6:19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  When my goal is to obtain as much earthly wealth as I can, my heart will be with that money.  When my goal is to store up heavenly treasures, my heart will be heavenly-minded.  Jesus also said, "No one can serve two masters...You cannot serve both God and Money" (6:24).

Later in the chapter, Jesus says, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own" (6:31-34).

I realize that some of my posts are more Scripture passages than my words, but the fact is, Jesus' words and the words of the God-inspired writers of the Bile are a lot more important than mine.  What I say will soon be forgotten if it is ever read, especially since what I'm writing here is my own considerings, and if anyone can benefit from them that's just an added bonus.  What God has said in his word has lasted thousands of years, and will last for eternity, even after Christ comes back for the second time.

This is what it means to be heavenly-minded, to seek first the kingdom and God's righteousness, to store up treasures in heaven.  It's not thinking about myself, but about other people.  It's about desiring and doing my best to do God's will, not mine, in my life.  It's about putting my complete trust in his providence, not mine.  It's about knowing that no matter what happens in this life, I have the assurance of eternal life in heaven.