After a most enjoyable evening amongst friends, I was challenged to write a post with the above title.
Obviously, I cannot resist a challenge.
We started our evening as all good evenings begin … with a meal. The food I ordered arrived minus the coleslaw that it was advertised as including. As I was looking forward to this and I refuse to be one of those English folks who pretend it’s ok before spending the evening moaning about it not being ok (been there, done that, didn’t get a t-shirt or the coleslaw), I told the waitress I ordered it with coleslaw and I wanted coleslaw! And she replied that she would get me a pot of coleslaw which meant that it would be a larger portion than the one that would ordinarily have accompanied the meal.
Get in, thank you and high five Jesus, I remarked to my friends!
What?
Jesus got your coleslaw, one enquired, uncomprehendingly?!
I explained that in my understanding and subsequent lived experience, this being a case in point, Jesus is not only interested in the super religious, formal, holier than thou aspects of our lives (whatever they may look like) but in all areas of our lives and His word tells us that He provides.
He provides.
There is no small print trying to exempt Himself from delivering on certain fronts. He provides for the birds of the air, the lilies of the fields and so much more, for you and I.
I don’t believe we are to limit or restrict Him by attempting to reduce Him to only providing in whatever small ways we consider to be appropriate. I just don’t buy the idea that it is our role to squeeze Him into little culturally dictated moulds any more than it is His, to reduce us to fit tiny religiously determined boxes.
What I do believe is that He is way bigger than we and certainly I, give Him credit for.
God does not fit in a box nor call us to.
I believe He calls us to take Him at His word – a whole beautiful bible full of it.
He provides.
And he is not a tight or a stingy God, but a generous one.
Yet, He is a God that requires us to respond by developing the faith to take Him at His word and trust in His ongoing provision sufficiently enough to relax in to and depend upon Him to meet all of our needs and some of our wants!
What I am witnessing as I put these words, I profess to believe into action, is that when I step back out of trust, God steps in to provide.
Boom.
This has led me to look back on various situations and reflect with a sigh, … ‘Oh me of little faith.’
I often ponder how unrecognisable our lives may be if only we truly and expansively took God at His word, whether in relation to his promise to provide or anything else.
As I practice trusting in His provision more, I believe He is challenging me and you and us, to know that He is not the God of the just scraping through or the God of stinginess. Whilst I also don’t buy in to the TV evangelists claims of prosperity, where applied in a way that takes the focus off Jesus, I equally don’t believe He is a God who leads us to poverty. This is not to say that neither exist. But that God is a God of more than enough, a generous helpings kind of a God who I believe enjoys providing lavishly for His children.
In fact, the God who wants to provide a bigger portion certainly than I have expected, trusted, imagined or had the faith to consistently believe for.
I do realise that on the night out in question, it was only coleslaw, but to me, it represents the generosity of the God who I believe, wants to provide a bigger portion of Him and the abundant life He offers, to me, to you and to us.
There is quite simply nothing more amazing in life than for us to trust in, receive, revel in, enjoy and then liberally share Jesus with others.
That’s what I call a win, win.
Make mine a large one please Jesus … and keep ‘em coming …