Provision

How are you being provided for? In the season of Advent I often think on this idea of provision. We enjoy the provisions of the Lord in friends and family. We enjoy the provision of breaks in the middle of busy lives. Most of all, we bask in the provision of a Savior to a world in desperate need of saving!

Our congregational meeting this past Wednesday also highlighted the Lord's provision to us. We reflected on all the ways that God has provided for us as Christ Church throughout 2018: people to minister to and with, opportunities to teach and learn from God’s word, and the financial wherewithal to steward and pursue what we believe God has called us to. We see the provision of two new elders and the return of veteran leaders to respective posts.

While we give God thanks for providing all this and more, his provision is also not something we can presume on in ways that we may humanly expect. We know, for instance, that there are Christians suffering thoughout the world who are still loved by God. We know that we still deal with the effects of a fallen world in bodies that break down physically. We know the provisions in the crowded stores are not affordable to all. We also know that God’s people lose their way from time to time and face consequences of not walking in God’s gracious provision.

As we continue through Micah this Advent we will wrestle with a people who lose their way by focusing on these themes in chapters 2, 3, and 6. Feel free to read ahead and wrestle with our neediness even as we anticipate God’s greatest Provision, Jesus.