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Day 4: Pastor Howie

FAITHFUL DEPENDENCE

 

Deuteronomy 18:1-2 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord’s food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.”

The Levitical priests were a unique tribe in the nation of Israel. They didn’t have anything to call their own. They had no land, no crops of their own, and nothing to pass on to their children. Everyday the priests and their families were reliant upon God providing what they needed. They were also reliant on their neighbors being obedient to God. For a Levite to have food on his table, God had to provide rain and sun for the crops to grow, workers for the harvest to be collected, and faithful people to provide their tithes and offerings daily. They didn’t have any money to buy food or anything to trade for their provision.  Every day was an exercise in faithful dependence upon God and others to provide for their needs. I can hardly imagine the level of trust the Levites had to have with God just to exist day to day.

God’s provision often comes in this chain of trust. When Beth and I moved our family to Salt Lake City in 2010 it made no logical sense. We had moved to Oregon just 3 years earlier, built a dream home where we got to pick out all of our favorite things, and we were just getting established in Portland. Our boys were four years old and were thriving in their spaces and places.

But as he often does, God had different plans for us. We knew without a doubt that we were supposed to move to Salt Lake City. We didn’t have jobs lined up, we would have to take a loss on our house, and find housing in Salt Lake. Throughout the process of moving, we had to find temporary housing, temporary schooling for our kids and other things that were never part of the plan. Many of the hurdles that we had to overcome seemed so daunting at the moment. However, looking back these hurdles were an opportunity for God to establish and prove to us his faithfulness and to help establish in us more faithful dependence. Each step of the way, even when the path curved, He provided everything we needed  – housing, jobs, and a community of support that we longed for – oftentimes through people, some that we knew and others we didn’t know. God often uses people to provide for us so that we can build that trust and dependence.

Take a moment to list times that God has come through for you. Are there times where He has surprised you in the way your needs were provided for? Are there any times in the past that you may have missed that God met a need? How have these times helped grow your faithful dependence on Him? Can you reflect on one moment that God has provided for you and use that as a springboard of trust for the future?

 

Prayer

Father, You are the provider of all things, big or small, trivial or essential. Help me today to build my faithful dependence on You by showing me a unique way that you provide for me. Amen.