Yesterday afternoon, as I left the community college campus, I got a good look at the inside of my car. As I was putting my things in the back seat, a pen fell out of my book and onto the floorboard and that is when it hit me how dirty the interior of my car had gotten. A soda bottle in the floorboard, small leaves and grass, and small pebbles and dirt nearly completely cover both the back and front floorboards. Dust covers the dashboard, a thin layer of film covers the inside of the windshield, and the ashtray is full of pennies. I hadn’t realized that I had let the car get so bad until that moment. And then, I began to realize that the problem was not the cold weather or the lack of time to keep the car clean – the problem was I had lost perspective.
Yes, the car I drive is a 2003 Ford Taurus. It’s a stock model, nothing fancy – but it is the car that God provided for me when I needed it. It may not have been my first choice, the color, or even the type of car I wanted; God didn’t provide for my wants but provided more than adequately for my needs. The apostle Paul has even told us about the bountiful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). God promises us that he will meet our needs when we depend upon his provision. The apostle Paul also wrote Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5) and But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content (I Timothy 6:6-8). What more should I have wanted? I had God’s promise that he would provide for my needs, that he would remain beside me, and he has remained faithful to do those things, yet I willingly chose to treat his provisions for me with a careless attitude.
During the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he even taught those who were willing to listen of their importance in the eyes of God: Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things (Matthew 6:26-32).
