The Lent Project | Day 28
Today’s Lent Project devotional is by Kristen Lamm. She is a member of our Leadership Team and hosts one of our South Forsyth Table Groups along with her husband, Josh.
Provision is the act of providing or supplying something. It can also mean a preparatory step taken to meet a possible or expected need. As I read through the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000 today, I was reminded of God’s provision in my life. It isn’t always easy to notice in the moment, but as you look back, it is easy to see that God was there and taking care of you at each step.
Four months after I graduated college, my husband and I got married. I had accepted my first “real-world” job, and we were planning our future together. This included our financial future, which meant a plan to pay off some school debt and start saving for a home. We were pretty proactive about all of the planning. Then, a week before we got married, my husband’s job situation changed drastically. He was informed that his job would end in six weeks! That was not predicted on any of my spreadsheets.
Way to drop a real life bomb in the middle of my happy dreamy wedding planning days! I immediately panicked because everything I thought to be true changed in an instant. Over the following weeks (and months), our financial life was hard. He was able to do contract work but it was a bit unpredictable and there was no guarantee of a permanent gig. Eventually he was offered a full-time position at the same company where I was working, but that wasn’t until after we had waded through months of financial uncertainty topped with a heavy helping of newlywed stress.
As our first wedding anniversary approached, we took a look back at our first year as husband and wife and we were blown away by God’s provision. Not only did He provide us with job opportunities but he provided us with opportunity to be better spouses— to learn more about ourselves and to build a strong foundation for our marriage to continue to grow. That first year was tough, but we are better for it. I believe it was an example of God’s provision— not just for that year but all the years that would follow.
It is important to take time to recognize and thank God for His provision in our lives. Not only is it important to have a heart of thanksgiving to our Savior, but it is also important because it is those moments when our faith grows. When we remember God’s provision in the past, it is easier to trust His plan for us now. Life is not easy and we are all broken. Parents will get divorced. Loved ones will pass away. All kinds of things will happen that cause us to question God, but if we have clear pictures of what God has done for us in the past, we can have faith that he is working all things together for our good yet again.
