“Give us today our daily bread.”
Matthew 6:11
We tend to come before the Lord in times of dire need: A bleak diagnosis, the death of a loved one, loss of a job. Life-altering storms drive us with desperation to the only safe harbor in the arms of our God. But our basic needs? Well, we like to take care of those on our own. We float through the relative affluence of modern life woefully unconscious of the common grace which sustains us.
Many of us may never know what it is to be food insecure. I haven’t, though I know some who have. But, in this instance, Jesus isn’t speaking only to people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. He is harkening back to the days of desert wandering, and calling his followers to trust their Heavenly Father with a childlike faith. A daily faith. The kind of faith that would allow them to enter the Father’s presence with boldness and make even their most basic needs known with confidence they will be met.
Friends, do not make the mistake of believing that anything we do is accomplished apart from God’s common grace. Every breath, every step, every feat of strength or creativity happens because the Lord has endowed us with the ability. The fact that your pantry is full does not absolve you from this vital piece of scripture.
Jesus, in a very simple phrase, reminds us that the Father is the sustainer of our very lives and urges us to acknowledge that fact regularly.
As you pray today, bring your concerns to the Lord. Cast your cares, your worries, your dire circumstances on Him because He cares for you. But do not forget the “small” things, which are not small indeed. The same God who parts seas and raises the dead is the same One who comforts you in your trouble and, yes, provides you with daily bread.
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