A Sip Of Coffee - Or A Gulp

I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Philippians 4:18-20

On Sunday mornings our oldest daughter has been studying the names of God in her Sunday school class using the Children Desiring God curriculum How Majestic Is Your Name. On Sunday evenings, Nic and I have been teaching this same curriculum which is translated into Spanish (Cuan Glorioso Es Tu Nombre) to the children at the 16/33 Center. It is a powerful study of the Person and Character of God.

This week I have been reminded over and over of God as our provider, our Jehovah-Jireh. His provision of Himself has been so sweet to me. Especially precious have been the reminders that He meets all of our needs according to the riches of His glory, not necessarily according to our plans. Oh, how hard this is for me some days.

I am sitting down this afternoon to have a sip of coffee and work through the hurdles of the remaining half of the day (paperwork, phone calls, cleaning, preparing for Wednesday night, and teaching math and phonics before the after school rush of therapeutic parenting sets in) and suddenly an exhaustion has come over me. I realize now that I'll need more than just a sip to finish off the day well. Maybe a gulp. Maybe several gulps. Or an entire pot.

And Jehovah-Jireh provides in a way I had not planned - both the little sweeties fell asleep during "quiet reading time." So I will not get to teach the math and phonics lessons today, but that's okay. It was not my plan to push this off until tomorrow, but God's good plan is for these little bodies to have rest and for me to sip and not gulp afterall, and to get through at least some of a more maneagable list for today.

I am constantly amazed at God's provision throughout every day. I wonder, though, when I will learn to balance preparedness with trust in God's sovereignty so that I do not find myself disappointed when things don't go as I had planned. Or when I will really grasp that people are more precious than a plan - specifically my plan. I sense that God is continually at work, softening the hard ground of my selfish heart that longs to be in control. I offer up my mustard seed-sized faith, rejoicing in Jehovah-Jireh, asking God to use it for His glory.