A Little Piece of Bread

Grace to You.org ^ | 1997 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for [the Lord] Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

God promises to provide for all your needs.

In World War II the death of many adults left many orphans. At the close of the war, the Allies provided some camps to feed the orphans and to try and find a place to relocate them. The children began to develop and grow, receiving the finest food and care. But in one of the camps, the officials became perplexed because the children couldn’t sleep. They would eat three good meals, but at night they would lie awake. The camp authorities brought in some doctors to do a study of these orphans to find out why they couldn’t sleep.

The doctors came up with a solution. Every night when the little children were put to bed, someone would come down the row of beds and place in each little hand a piece of bread. So the last thing the children experienced at night was grasping a piece of bread. In a matter of days they were all sleeping through the night. Why? Even though they were fed to the full during the day, experience had taught them that there was no hope for tomorrow. When they had that bread tucked in their hands, they knew that at least they would have breakfast the next day.

Similarly, God has given you a piece of bread for your hand. That bread is this promise: “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). If you have that piece of bread in your hand, you can sleep.

You don’t need to stockpile for the future. God is the owner of everything in the world, and He controls all the assets to provide for you because you are His child. Life for the Christian consists not in the abundance of things he possesses (Luke 12:15), but in being content with the things that he has (Heb. 13:5).

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God for His promise to provide for all your needs.

For Further Study

In Psalm 37:25, what was David’s testimony about the Lord?

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[GOP Poet]

Beautiful and once again a needed lesson. Thank you metmom for posting.

[unlearner]

While I appreciate the lesson here, I cannot agree that preparing for hard times to come is somehow unbiblical or unspiritual.

Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.

Proverbs 27:12
A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are punished.

Additionally, we have Noah who was instructed by God to “prepare” for the coming flood. And Joseph was given wisdom by God to avert the damage of a coming seven-year famine in Egypt by preparing. Jesus also taught the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The foolish ones were not prepared.

While it is clear that a believer is supposed to trust God to provide, He can do so in advance of a need. Believers of all people should recognize that God’s judgment is certainly going to come to this nation, and that may take the form of scarcity of food and other necessities. If Christians have the ability to prepare for these things, they should do it.

[metmom]

I agree.

There’s a world of difference between being wisely prepared and hoarding stuff as the rich man who built bigger barns.