Charles Spurgeon, called the “Prince of Preachers” once said, “Rest assured that the lord, who provides for the millions of fish in the sea and the myriads of birds in the air will not suffer His own children to perish for the lack of things of this life.”

In this life, we often feel incredible pressure to provide for ourselves and our families. This pressure comes out of an earnest desire to put food on the table and a roof over our loved ones’ heads. Most certainly, those are noble goals and things to which we should strive.

But we need to remember where our true sustenance comes from, and that’s the Lord God. If we don’t rely on Him, we’ll never be able to receive everything we need. God is our ultimate provider.

Living life as a follower of Jesus requires balancing our trust in God and our own efforts. There’s an old saying attributed to St. Ignatius that said, “Pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on you.”

There’s also the old adage that goes, “God will help those who help themselves.” The message throughout is clear: God will provide for our every need, but He expects us to put in the work too!

The Bible speaks to this as well. Deuteronomy 11:14 reads,He will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil.” See the union here between the God’s work and our own? The harmony between humanity and God here is wonderful.

God gives us everything we need to complete the work He has called us to do, and through its completion, we find His providence.

Remember, God will send the rains in the amount we need and the time we need it. But we need to put our hands to work to gather the harvest.

You can write the Pastor at pastorbilly@findtruelife.com.