I’ve been thinking lately about the phrase “Give us this day our daily bread.” As we studied through what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” in our prayer class, we discussed this sentence as one that expresses the simple and utter dependence that we have on God. Even our food is a gift from Him. And what always strikes me about this simple petition is that we are to ask only for today’s bread. We’re not told to ask for tomorrow’s bread, and it is ludicrous to think of asking for yesterday’s bread, so we are left with one option–today’s. And since we’re also commanded not to worry about tomorrow…we can only conclude that this verse is truly telling us not to seek things for tomorow, but to ask Him for today.
It is a true confession that I have done plenty of whining on this blog. How often have I written when I’m in the depths of despair, and so often you have kindly trudged through the mire with me. For that I thank you! But this week I am focusing on, contemplating and considering how each day God has been so faithful to provide for our needs. When we jumped off the cliff almost 11 months ago, leaving our jobs and home and “normal” life, we had no idea what to expect. We had $10,000 in savings, which we figured would get us through a year of living frugally, without a mortgage but with paying our own health insurance, etc. We’ve had some unexpectated losses–Jeff’s car turning into a paperweight–but we’ve also had amazing little provisions…daily bread.
The little tutoring job that I did during the Fall and now Jeff has done all Spring. Totally unexpected, and perfect for our situation. Getting to TA again this year for Dr. Lockwood at Multnomah. A surprise generous gift from my grandma at Christmas time. A State tax refund check and an economic stimulus check. And this month, in the midst of my stress over not having a job yet, Jeff was hired to develop a website for his old college fraternity, which equals one more month in the clear. Now I’m certainly not saying that living paycheck to paycheck is the “by faith” way to go…anyone who knows me knows I’m not saying that. But what I’m saying is that for all the things I’ve hated about this year, it has shown me a little more about what “Give us this day our daily bread” really means. Today, Lord. Today I have bread. In fact, today I had more than that–I had delicious peanut butter balls from my friend Melissa, a few homemade chocolate chip cookies, ice cold pink lemonade, and delicious summer squash with dinner. That’s abundance!
And this utter dependence is available to us no matter what our life looks like. We are dependent on God for the air that we breathe, the water that cleanses and nourishes us. We do well to stop, look around and express our gratitude to God for the amazing way that He gives us each day our daily bread.
Today I’m so thankful for solitude. Dutch and I had the place to ourselves. We played, walked, went to the river, took wagon rides (well, he took a wagon ride). We ate our lunch together, played with trucks. I sat in the glorious sunshine while swimming in the deep end of the sovereignty of God reading Desiring God. I sunburnt my tummy, drank iced green tea and pink lemonade, and ordered birthday invitations for a certain someone’s 30th birthday party :-). This afternoon two girlfriends came over with their 3 boys, all around Dutch’s age. We spent 3 hours watching four hilarious blond-haired boys run around, soaking wet, spraying the hose at each other, splash in the wading pool, load pea gravel into the toy dump trucks, and throw rocks in the river while the dog tried to catch them in his mouth. ANd tonight I sat with my family–my precious little family unit, the three of us, and ate our dinner before going for a walk, splashing Dutch in the bathtub, and snuggling down for a bedtime read. This day was all that is sweet. It was daily bread but so much more. It was a gift from God, and for that I’m so thankful.
Let’s consider our utter dependence on God, and what glorious dependence because He is all that is dependable. Give us this day our daily bread.