The Timing of God's Provision

1.  God provides just in time (Ac. 12:1-10; esp. v. 6).
2.  God provides at the right time (Rom. 5:6; Eccl. 3:1-8,11).
3.  God provides ahead of time (1 Cor. 2:9).
4.  God provides in spite of time (Mt. 14:15ff - evening / late).
5.  God provides in His time (Gal. 4:4).
6.  God provides outside of time (Jer. 1:5).

Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 6)

Conclusion (Part 2):

Here are three relieving statements to encourage you, take away doubt and fear, and give you hope as you navigate within an impersonal, hostile world. Because of the message of Mt. 10:29 & Lu., 12:6 . . .

• You can live in security. Every detail of your life is known by God and His memory will never slip.
• You can live with joy. You don't have to fear or dread anything. You can live in the moment and relish every blessing and opportunity God brings your way.
• You can live with stability. All your needs have already been provided. Any lack right now is merely your opportunity in time to catch up with the provision God has already released.

Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 5)

Conclusion (Part 1)

ILLUSTRATION

“In 1904, a songwriter, Mrs. Civilla Martin, went to visit a bedridden friend in Elmira, New York. Mrs. Martin asked the woman if she ever got discouraged because of her physical condition. Her friend quickly responded: "Mrs. Martin, how can I be discouraged when my heavenly Father watches over each little sparrow and I know He loves and cares for me?" On her journey back home, Mrs. Martin completed the writing of her new text, which has since been a source of much encouragement to many of God's people:”¹

The song referred to – if you're over 35 you've probably heard it – no on sings it as Ethel Waters does.²  

Now that you watched the YouTube video, consider this biographical summary.

• Ethel Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896, as a result of her mother's rape at age 13. Ethel Waters was raised in a violent, impoverished home. She never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. She said of her difficult childhood, "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family."³ 

1 http://www.padfield.com/2001/sparrow.html (accessed 08-15-16)

2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QbeNSatFFo (accessed 8-18-16)

3ibid

Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 4)

3. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION

EXPLANATION

• The grammatical construction that begins with the words “are not” is written to invoke an affirmative answer.  The yes answer is obvious enough that it doesn't need to be stated.

ILLUSTRATION

• “You are going to the party, right?” What answer are you expecting? You are expecting the answer to be either “yes” or “right.”
• “Isn't two plus two still four?” What answer are you expecting? You are expecting the answer to be either “yes” or “no duh.”

APPLICATION

• What we have here is an a minori ad maius argument. (You didn't know you were going to brush up on your Latin today, did you?)
• A minori ad maius means that the writer or speaker crafts an argument in such a way that what is true about the smaller or lesser must be all the more true about the larger or greater.
• What is true about the Father's care for the birds must also be true about His care for you.
• Since God perfectly governs and cares for each small bird, you can trust Him to govern and provide for you.
• What can you conclude from today's verses, based upon this kind of argumentation?
• Yes, the Father is aware of every threat, shortage or need in your life.
• Yes, the Father is sovereign over every detail in your life (Rom. 8:28).
• Yes, the Father is attentive to every tear that you shed and every fall that you take.
• Yes, the Father is present in every circumstance of life.
• Yes, the Father is good and only gives good gifts (Mt. 7:9-11).
• Yes, the Father does care for you.

Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 3)

2. THE CARE BY THE FATHER

EXPLANATION

• Matthew – the care by the Father's knowledge and will
• Providence – Definition -- “That unceasing and efficient government which is carried on by” [the Creator] “ throughout the universe, by which the creatures are preserved, their wants supplied, and the purposes of the vast creation are accomplished.” (W. J. Townsend)¹ (Jam. 1:17)
• Positive providence – The Father preserves or provides by releasing a desired outcome.
• Feeding of birds (to keep them alive) (Mt. 6:26)
• Sending of rain (Job 5:10; Jer. 5:24)
• Negative providence – The Father preserves or provides by withholding a desired outcome (Job 1:21; 2:9-10).
• Falling of birds (to bring them to death)
• Quote: “ . . . God does not promise His followers deliverance from death, but permits them to die, granting them more than if He had not allowed them to suffer it.”² (H. F. Stander's paraphrasing Chrysostom)
• Withholding of rain (Amos 4:7)
• Luke – the care by the Father's memory and presence
• Translation: “Not one out of them is forgotten (neglected, overlooked) in the presence of God.”
• The Creator attends to His Creation (Heb. 4:13). You might not be a standout before men, and might not always get picked early or at all by people, but God cannot and will not let you fade into the woodwork.
• The Father exercises His omniscience. God knows everything – literally, every thing – past, present and future. That is why He cannot forget you! (Isa. 49:15)
• The Father exercises His omnipresence. God is everywhere at the same time. There is no place that He is not (Psa. 139:7-10).

ILLUSTRATION

• Baby monitor.  This is how a parent knows how to respond and care when he or she isn't in the same room as the infant. When it comes to God, however, He is always in the room and is always aware of you. He is aware of what you want and what you need. He knows you better than you know yourself (Psa. 139:6, 15-18). God's monitor is always turned on and His ear is always sensitive to your heart's cry.

APPLICATION

• Lyrics: “And although there were times I've been out of His will, I've never been out of His care.”³ (Dallas Holm)
• Psa. 55:22; 1 Pet. 5:7 > casting onto the Lord
• Heb. 4:16 > coming unto the Lord

1Lockyer, Herbert. All The Doctrines Of The Bible: A Study And Analysis Of Major Bible Doctrines. “All” Series. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1964. p. 35.

2http://www.dspace.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/13563/Stander_Sparrows(2005).pdf?sequence=3 (accessed 8-15-16)

3http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/dallas_holm/ive_never_been_out_of_his_care-lyrics-1195506.html (accessed 8-18-16)

Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 2)

1. THE PRICE FOR THE SPARROWS

EXPLANATION

• Sparrows – any small birds, found in abundance, that were used for sacrifice or food.
• Assarion / assaria (pl.) – 1/16 denarius (1 denarius = a day's wage for a laborer). What is an assarion worth today? Take your annual gross pay, not including benefits, and divide it by 4,000.¹  If you make $16,640 per year ($8/hr., 40 hrs./wk., 52 wks./yr.), then one assarion is worth $4.11.
• Deal
• Matthew > Two sparrows – one assarion.  If that is true, then you should be able to get four sparrows for two assaria.
• Luke > five sparrows – two assaria.  The small birds were so numerous, so invasive and so easily attainable that they were cheap. Two assaria could buy four sparrows, but a fifth sparrow was thrown into the mix for free.

ILLUSTRATION

• Estate auction.  People come to an estate auction to bid on expensive items. Cheap items are either donated or are not auctioned. In the event the auctioneer takes a chance and attempts to auction a cheap item, usually it doesn't sell. The item fails to bring in even a low bid. When no one bites on a low starting bid, that is the ultimate statement of worthlessness.

APPLICATION

• Many people today struggle with a sense of worth. They ask questions similar to the following:
• Do I matter?
• If I dropped dead right now, would anyone care?
• Would anyone, other than my pastor, even attend the funeral?
• With over 7 billion people on planet Earth, am I reduced only to a Social Security number and a digital SKU code?
• If I matter to God, let alone anyone else, and I truly am worth something, why do I struggle to agree? There is so much “stuff” that keeps happening to me! I must be a disappointment to God, since I am in weeds this deep.

1 http://www.lectionary.org/EXEG_Engl_WEB/NT/01-Matt-WEB/Matt%2010.24-39.htm (accessed 08-15-16)

2Www.datagenetics.com/blog/april112011/ (accessed 08-15-16)

Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 1)

Bible Verses:

New American Standard

• Mt. 10:29 > “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
• Lu. 12:6 > “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.”

My Greek Translation

• Mt. 10:29 > “Are not two small birds sold for an assarion, and not one out of them will fall down (to destruction) to the ground apart from the knowledge and will of your Father?”
•  Lu. 12:6 > “Are not five small birds sold for two assaria, and not one out of them is forgotten (neglected, overlooked) in the presence of God?”

Verse Of The Week (08/19/16)

photo taken in my backyard, July 9, 2016 at 4:24 P.M.

"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" (Mt. 6:26)

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 7

Among the many ways God can provide, we have mentioned three.  He can provide unconventionally, illogically and miraculously.  Not only does God have the capability to provide, but He delights in doing it.  No matter what the "famine" experiences are before us, God says He will provide.  God has unlimited creativity, since He "is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think..." (Eph. 3:20). 

Let’s bring our "famines" to God.  Let's not leave the issue until we have settled -- fully settled -- that He will provide.  Let's not have it in our heads only but also in our hearts.  Our response for today:  “Yes, Lord, I believe You can provide and will provide.”

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 6

God provided unconventionally and illogically for Elijah, but God also provided miraculously (1 Kin. 17:12-16).  This is the filter through which we usually interpret this story.  Is there anyone who doesn't want God to do a miracle for you?

For the widow and her son, there was no shortage of water.  Elijah asked for a cup of water and the woman went to get it.  While there was plenty of water, there were no pancakes to spare.  Flour and oil, both of which were needed to make pancakes, were in short supply.  Then came the miracle.  Through Elijah's mouth, God promised a more-than-sufficient supply if the widow would obey.  The bowl of flour would not be exhausted and the jar of oil would not be emptied until the promised rain fell. 

God cared for the widow, her son and Elijah, but He also cares for you.  God promised in Philippians 4:19, "...my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."    Your needs matter to Him!  God's not intimidated to play His supernatural card.  Sometimes it's hard to convince ourselves, "Yes, I believe that."  Our heads nod up and down in agreement; however, every now and then our hearts need fencing in.  Why not impose a restraining order on our doubts?  Believe that God not only has the capability to provide, but He has the interest to do so.  He's watching out for us right now.

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 5

Not only does God provide unconventionally for His people, but He also provides illogically (1 Kin. 17: 7-11).  God sent His servant, Elijah, to a pagan city to receive care and nourishment from a widow idolater.  Does that make sense to you?  Oh, and the woman was so poor she literally didn't have two sticks to rub together at home.  She couldn't sustain herself and her dependent son, let alone host a guest for breakfast.

Such was the situation in which God provided for Elijah.  The already-burdened widow took on a heavier load.  Here is a statement we need to understand:  God has logic, since there is nothing He does not know, but that doesn't mean He's obligated to act logically.  He has no need of counselors, yet He does things that make earthly wise men scream, "What?!"  Isaiah reminds us that there is a world of difference between God's thoughts and ours.  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9).

God's preferred methods of providence are baffling at times.  When He doesn't make sense, and there will be times when He doesn't, that is not the time to walk away.  Indeed, "God works in mysterious ways" (William Cowper).  Isaiah 28:21 mentions that God will "do His task, His unusual task" and "work His work, His extraordinary work."  Job 9:10 reminds us that God "does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number."

What we struggle against is human logic.  "God, the widow isn't supposed to provide for me; I'm supposed to provide for her."  Had Elijah's logic replaced God's Word, Elijah could've remained a starving prophet without a country and the widow at Zarephath might never have experienced a miracle.  May we learn to become okay with being unable to predict or explain God's provision.  It's more exciting just to embrace what He provides.

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 4

The first way God provides for His people -- He provides unconventionally (1 Kin. 17:2-6).  God sent Elijah to a secluded place called Cherith.  Cherith means "cut away" or "cut off."  What a wonderful lesson:  When we are separated from the normal means of provision, when we are cut off, it is only that we are set up.  What appears to be a punishing isolation becomes God's provision.  If Elijah didn't survive at Cherith, he never would've made it to Zarephath.  Remember, it was at Zarephath that the miracle of the flour and oil occurred.  Elijah needed to experience the miraculous for himself before he could involve others.

What unconventional means God used to provide for Elijah!  The cutting away experience at Cherith was one thing, but the ravens?  Ravens were considered unclean, according to Leviticus 11:15.  God used detestable, abhorrent scavengers to airmail bread and meat to Elijah twice each day.  How much more unconventional can you get?

If God can be that creative providing for Elijah, He can be creative meeting our needs today.  Since all knowledge, wisdom and power belong to Him, imagine the combinations He can create!  For instance, Proverbs 13:22 says that "the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous."  I'm not sure how all that works, but I'll take it.  Don't forget that God delivered daily bread (a.k.a. manna) to Israel for forty years and supplemented it with all-you-can-eat barbecque (a.k.a. quail).  "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" (Rom. 11:34).  Let us put aside our preconceived ideas of how God "must" provide.

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 3

From today's verses, we discover how God provides for His people during difficult times.  Perhaps we will never live through a literal famine, but we will have what I call "famine experiences."  They include but are not limited to job loss, large bills that overwhelm you, long-term unanswered prayers, loss of a loved one, and stubborn circumstances.  During such times we wonder, silently if not aloud, "How will God get us through?"  Today's story shows us three ways, among many, that God provides for His people.

Tomorrow we will look at the first way that God provides.  Today, identify your "famine experience."  Where in your life are you "starving" or lacking?  Do you believe God can provide?  Do you believe He will?

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 2

In the last post I suggested famine could strike America.  The following is excerpted from an article called "Famine in America? Why 99% of the U.S. Is in Danger of Starvation."  You can find the article here.

          "Nearly everyone recognizes that the U.S. may be in for very hard times in the near

future. Some economists are predicting financial collapse as catastrophic as the

Great Depression. With a significant number of people now living in cities, far

away from their food sources, one may be left to wonder if the degree of famine

this time around may result in the starvation of the roughly 240 million Americans

who are incapable of growing their own food.

        The idea isn't as farfetched or alarmist as it may seem at first glance. At the turn

of the 20th century, more than fifty percent of the American labor force earned a

living through direct involvement in agriculture, but this number decreased to just

2% by the year 2000. Even more frighteningly, only .8% of Americans are involved

in the industry full-time.

        This transition is a distressing one indeed. While demographic shift from rural to

urban lifestyles may seem like a blessing to many who loathe the hard labor

associated with rural, agrarian life, it may spell disaster for those who are struggling

through life in the Big City, hundreds or even thousands of miles from their food

sources.

        During the Great Depression, formerly wealthy executives stood in line for hours

waiting in ragged clothes for a hand-out of hot soup, while the rural "poor" went

about life as usual, barely noticing the Depression. Survivors of the Depression who

lived in agrarian regions often joked that they were "too poor to notice the stock

market crash", but they were, in fact, better off than the majority of inner-city workers

in that they never went hungry. As a result of this, the one-half of Americans with

access to their own home-grown foods were exempt from the horrors of the Great

Depression.

       Now imagine that, instead of 50% of the population suffering from the woes of

an economic collapse, it was the 99.2% who are not involved in agriculture full-

time. The comparison makes 1929 look like a walk in the park. Worse still, our

food transportation services are now fully dependent on massive amounts of petroleum

for transport, and the distances of food transportation have increased from tens

of miles to thousands, which makes the modern grocery network look even more

fragile by comparison."

 

That article was written in November, 2008.  The author did a great job helping us see that, indeed, we are vulnerable to famine.  With that in mind, we are ready to delve into today's Bible story.  The backdrop for the story is, to no one’s shock, famine.  Unless we identified with the famine, we could miss the passage's impact.

How God Provides (1 Kin. 17:1-16) > Part 1

Psalm 37:25 declares that the righteous will not be forsaken and their children will not beg for bread.  That's easy to quote and embrace when times are good.  What about bad times, times of famine?

Famine is a disaster we normally don't associate with America.  We might experience temporary food supply interruption, but we don’t know enduring food shortage.  Each year we gather to a feast called Thanksgiving to reflect upon the fact that God's faithfulness didn't fail us.  Year by year we repeat this tradition and the result never changes.  The pattern is set:  "Great is Thy faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22-23).  Join me in declaring, "We are a blessed people!"

Perish the thought, but what if we weren't blessed -- at least not the way we're accustomed to?  What if there was a famine in America?  How would we respond?

 

Tomorrow, tune in to read how famine could strike America.