{"id":119,"date":"2013-02-26T19:35:45","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T19:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihsteps.com\/wordpress\/?p=119"},"modified":"2013-02-26T19:35:45","modified_gmt":"2013-02-26T19:35:45","slug":"qthe-great-providerq-by-tammy-maseberg-february-26-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"“THE GREAT PROVIDER” by Tammy Maseberg, February 26, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo don\u2019t worry about these things, saying, \u2018What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?\u2019<\/em> <\/em>These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.\u00a0 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.<\/em> So don\u2019t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today\u2019s trouble is enough for today.\u201d\u00a0 (Matthew 6:31-34, NLT)<\/em> <\/p>\n

God will provide.\u00a0 I know that.\u00a0 I believe that.<\/p>\n

Or, do I?\u00a0 If obtaining the necessities of life became nearly impossible, would I completely trust God to take care of my family and me in every way?\u00a0 Honestly I don\u2019t know, because I\u2019ve never been in that position.\u00a0 However, I do know someone who has been. <\/p>\n

I met Margaret when we lived just a couple of blocks from each other.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t have a phone at that time, so the church called me one day to relay a message to her.\u00a0 And, so began a friendship that has lasted for 24 years (and counting)\u2014through many trying times for both of us.\u00a0 This precious lady taught me the true meaning of trusting God for every need no matter what the circumstances look like.<\/p>\n

Margaret was a single mom with four children, one who had critical health issues requiring expensive medicine and treatment.\u00a0 I saw her work from early morning until late at night every day to provide for herself and her kids.\u00a0 There was no extra of anything\u2014ever.\u00a0 Unless of course you count struggles, because there was never a shortage of those battles.<\/p>\n

I remember her telling me how there were times when she didn\u2019t know where their next meal was coming from or if they would have a place to live in the future.\u00a0 The car she had for a while didn\u2019t have brakes to speak of, and yet God protected her as she drove to work.\u00a0 As I write and think about this again, my heart still breaks for her because of all that she went through.\u00a0 And, it reminds me how I\u2019ve never had to worry about any of those issues.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m amazed at how God puts people in our lives to show us His Word in action.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to read or hear a scripture and nod our heads in agreement while shouting, \u201cYou preach it, brother!\u00a0 Amen sister!\u00a0 Hallelujah!\u201d\u00a0 But, it\u2019s a whole different matter to watch someone trust what God says in His Word for a real-life situation and then witness the fulfillment of that promise in their life.\u00a0 Our own faith is strengthened.\u00a0 We realize that if He provided for that other person, He will provide for us, too.<\/p>\n

I thank God for bringing Margaret into my life, not only to be a sister in Christ, but to help me trust in His promises.\u00a0 She faced overwhelming circumstances at times, some of them frightening and even dangerous.\u00a0 I observed how she handled things, and this is what I saw:\u00a0 God supplied the food, shelter, protection, and even the peace that she needed through everything.\u00a0 Sometimes the provision came at the last minute, but He never EVER failed her.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lord, help me to remember that You will always give me everything I need, when I need it.\u00a0 Thank You for being the Great Provider.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a92013 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo don\u2019t worry about these things, saying, \u2018What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?\u2019 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.\u00a0 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[37,36,35],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-from-tammy-maseberg","tag-gods-promises","tag-gods-provision","tag-trusting-god","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}