The Father Who Provides

Jesus repeatedly taught that God is the Father who provides.

First, God is good.  As we like to say in church, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.  Jesus illustrated this point by telling a story.  He asked, what father, if his child asks for bread, would give him a stone?  What father, if his child asks for fish, would give him a snake?  The obvious answer: no one.  Arguing from the lesser to the greater, thus, if even human parents, with their failings, know enough to take care of their children, how much more generous is God.  God is good.

Second, God wants us to ask.  Jesus said that we should ask, and seek, and knock.  God wants us to acknowledge our dependence on him.  Pride, the deadliest of the seven deadly sins, is thinking that we don’t need God.  Prayer, asking God, is acknowledging that we depend upon God.

Third, God does provide.  God gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want.  God always answers prayers, and often with answers superior to what we had imagined.  If a child asks for fish, God is not going to give him a snake, but if the child asks for a snake, God is still not going to give him a snake.  God knows what we need.

In our sermon this Sunday we are going to talk about the Father who provides.