GOD, PROVISIONS OF

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

—Rev. 12:6

2037 Pyramid Of Provisions

Many have gazed in wonder on the pyramids in Egypt. Some have admired displays of gymnastic pyramids. Here are samples of Scripture Pyramids that the believer can contemplate with wonder and admiration:

Glory.

Weight of glory

Eternal weight of glory

Exceeding and eternal weight of glory

More exceeding and eternal weight of glory

A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

(II Cor. 4:17)

and

Ask

All that we ask

Above all that we ask or think

Abundantly above all that we ask or think

Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think

Able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

(Eph. 3:20)

2038 Native Chief Gives “Fine Mat”!

Dr. D. I. Vanderpool, general superintendent of the Nazarene Church, was in Samoa on a mission for his denomination when he was made the recipient of what is known as a “Fine mat” and was told that it would get him anything he needed in that land.

Manuma, a native chief and a grandson of the Samoan ruler who years ago turned over the land of Samoa to the United States, made the presentation. “This will get you anything you need here in our country,” Manuma, a retired Navy officer, said. “If you had a house and it was mortgaged for a thousand dollars, this mat would be accepted as a release from the debt. If you were in jail, it would set you free. If you were sentenced to die, this mat, which is 174 years old and is a companion to the one on which Princess Elizabeth stood when she visited us and spoke to our people, would set you free from the death sentence. It will meet any need you might have in this land.”

2039 What We Have In Christ

A love that can never be fathomed;

A life that can never die;

A righteousness that can never be tarnished;

A peace that can never be understood;

A rest that can never be disturbed;

A joy that can never be diminished;

A hope that can never be disappointed;

A glory that can never be clouded;

A light that can never be darkened;

A happiness that can never be interrupted;

A strength that can never be enfeebled;

A purity that can never be defiled;

A beauty that can never be marred;

A wisdom that can never be baffled;

Resources that can never be exhausted.

—Selected

2040 “According To” Not “Out To”

The apostle Paul puts it: “According to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). Thank God, He did not say “out of His riches,” which would be like a millionaire giving $1.00 in the offering plate, as it would be “out of” his riches. “According to” means “in proportion to”—and God’s proportionate provisions come without measure.

2041 God’s Superlatives

Writers are supposed to avoid superlatives. The textbooks tell us that authors who use extreme adjectives like “fabulous,” “magnificent,” and “splendid” are usually overstating the case. These graphic superlatives are to be reserved only for occasions that actually merit their use, and then they are to appear very seldom.

But when the writers of the Bible spoke of the blessings of God upon His children, they used the strongest of terms. So marvelous are the riches of Christ enjoyed by His own that the Holy Spirit, the author of God’s Word, used the most extravagant language to describe them. Here are a few examples:

—God’s pardon is “abundant”     —Isaiah 55:7

—His love “passeth knowledge”     —Ephesians 3:19

—His gift of salvation is “unspeakable”     —II Corinthians 9:15

—His life is “more abundant”     —John 10:10

Paul, writing to the discouraged Corinthians, said that through God we are “enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (II Corinthians 9:11).

Feeling poor of spirit?

Wishing you had more of the riches of this world?

Remember the superlatives of God!

—David C. Egner

2042 “Go Easy!”

My six daughters sometimes gather around me, telling me how they need shoes, money for music lessons and for many other things. Sometimes I have been compelled to say, “Go easy! I am not made out of money. We will just have to get what we can afford and go without the rest.”

But I never read in God’s Word where He ever told anybody, “Go easy! I don’t have very much. I have already strained Myself giving to others. I cannot give as much as you ask.” No, no! One of our greatest sins about praying is that we do not ask for enough. We do not take what God is willing to give. … God forgive us our little, stingy, unbelieving prayers!

—John R. Rice

2043 Power To Keep Law Given

Ludwig Nommensen, a pioneer missionary to the Batak tribesmen, was told that he could stay for two years, during which time he studied the customs and traditions that ruled the people. At the end of that time the chief asked him if there was anything in the Christian religion that differed from the traditions of the Batak. “We, too, have laws that say we must not steal, nor take our neighbor’s wife, nor bear false witness,” the chief said.

The missionary answered quietly, “My Master gives the power to keep His laws.” The chief was startled. “Can you teach my people that?” he asked. “No, I cannot, but God can give them that power if they ask for it and listen to His Word.”

The missionary was permitted to stay another six months, during which time he taught just one thing—the power of God. At the end of that time, the chief said, “Stay; your law is better than ours. Ours tells us what we ought to do. Your God says. “Come, I will walk with you and give you strength to do the good thing.” “

There are now about 450,000 Batak Christians, with their own independent church organizations.

—Commission

2044 Enter The Hen In Roof

John Brentz, a friend of Luther, and one of the stalwarts of the Reformation, incurred the hatred of Charles V who made many attempts to kill the minister. Hearing that a troop of Spanish cavalry was on the way to arrest him, he cast himself upon God in prayer. At once the guidance came: “Take a loaf of bread and go into the upper town and where thou findest a door open, enter and hide thyself under the roof.”

He acted accordingly, found the only open door, and hid himself in the loft. For fourteen days he laid there while the search continued. The one loaf of bread would have been insufficient, but day by day, a hen came up to the garret, and laid an egg without cackling. The fifteenth day it did not come, but John Brentz heard the people in the street say, “They are gone at last,” and he came out.

—Sunday School Times

2045 Correct Balance

In His providence, God knows how much joy and sorrow, how much pleasure and pain, how much prosperity and poverty is proper for His child.

He knows the correct balance of sunshine and storm, the precise mixture of darkness and light it takes to perfect a son.

—Richard Halverson

2046 The Matterhorn Fly

Up on the lofty snow-clad mountains of the Matterhorn, we were awed by the wondrous works of God in the superb scenery, when a friend took out a pocket microscope, caught a tiny fly, and placed it under the glass. He then reminded us that the legs of the housefly in England were naked, whereas this little fly’s were thickly covered with hair.

The same God who made those lofty mountains, remembered to make the tiniest of His creatures comfortable.

—Adapted from Newberry

2047 A Little Sparrow

I am only a little sparrow!

A bird of low degree;

My life is of little value,

But the dear Lord cares for me.

He gave me a coat of feathers,

’Tis very plain I know:

With never a speck of crimson,

For it was not made for show.

But, it keeps me warm in winter;

It shields me from the rain;

Were it bordered with gold and purple

Perhaps it would make me vain.

I have no barn or storehouse;

I never sow or reap:

God gives me a sparrow’s portion,

But never a seed to keep.

If my meat is sometimes scanty.

Close picking makes it sweet;

I have always enough to keep me,

And “life is more than meat.”

I know there are many sparrows;

All over the world they’re found;

But our heavenly Father knoweth

When one of us falls to the ground.

Though small, we are never forgotten,

Though weak, we are never afraid,

For we know that the dear Lord keepeth

The lives of the creatures He made.

I fly through the thickest forest,

I light on many a spray,

I have no chart or compass,

But I never lose my way.

—Anonymous

2048 All I Have Is Yours

In one of Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman’s meetings a man arose to give the following remarkable testimony: “I got off at the Pennsylvania depot as a tramp, and for a year I begged on the streets for a living. One day I touched a man on the shoulder and said, “Mister, please give me a dime.”

“As soon as I saw his face, I recognized my father. “Father, don’t you know me?” I asked. Throwing his arms around me, he cried, “I have found you; all I have is yours.” Men, think of it, that I, a tramp, stood begging my father for ten cents, when for eighteen years he had been looking for me to give me all he was worth!”

So the heavenly Father is waiting for you. Why not receive the unsearchable riches in Christ now?

—Moody Monthly

2049 Go And Cash It!

Roy McClain tells of a beggar who stopped a lawyer on the street in a large southern city and asked him for a quarter. Taking a long, hard look into the man’s unshaven face, the attorney asked. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” “You should,” came the reply. “I’m your former classmate. Remember, second floor, old Main Hall?”

“Why, Sam, of course I know you!” Without further question the lawyer wrote a check for $100. “Here, take this and get a new start. I don’t care what’s happened in the past, it’s the future that counts.” And with that he hurried on.

Tears welled up in the man’s eyes as he walked to a bank nearby. Stopping at the door, he saw through the glass the well-dressed tellers and the spotlessly clean interior. Then he looked at his filthy rags. “They won’t take this from me. They’ll swear that I forged it,” he muttered as he turned away.

The next day the two men met again. “Why Sam, what did you do with my check? Gamble it away? Drink it up?” “No,” said the beggar as he pulled it out of his dirty shirt pocket and told why he hadn’t cashed it. “Listen, friend,” said the lawyer. “What makes that check good is not your clothes or appearance, but my signature. Go on, cash it!”

—Dennis J. De Haan

2050 Spurgeon’s Joyful Experience

When Spurgeon was riding home one evening after a heavy day’s work and feeling very wearied and depressed, the verse—”My grace is sufficient for thee” came to him. He immediately compared himself to a little fish in the Thames, apprehensive lest, drinking so many pints of water in the river each day, it might drink the Thames dry, and hearing Father Thames say to it, “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.”

Then he thought of a little mouse in the granaries of Joseph in Egypt, afraid lest it might—by daily consumption of the corn it needed—exhaust the supplies and starve to death; when Joseph came along and, sensing its fear, said, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.”

Or again, he thought of himself as a man climbing some high mountain to reach its lofty summit, and dreading lest he might exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere, when the Creator Himself said, “Breathe away, O man, and fill thy lungs ever; my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.”

“Then,” he told his congregation, “for the first time in my life, I experienced what Abraham felt when he fell upon his face and laughed.” Joyful experience.

2051 God Navigated The Cargo

Captain Johnson was serving as chaplain on an island in the South Pacific during World War II. He prepared to go on a bombing raid on enemy-occupied islands several hundred miles away. The mission was a complete success, but on the homeward course the plane began to lose altitude and the engines faded out. A safe landing was made on a strange island. It was learned later that the enemy was just one-half mile in each direction, yet the landing had gone undetected.

The staff sergeant came to the chaplain and said, “Chaplain, you have been telling us for months of the need of praying and believing God answers prayer in time of trouble, and that He does it right away. We’re out of gas, base several hundred miles away—almost surrounded by the enemy.”

Johnson began to pray and lay hold of the promises and believed that God would work a miracle. Night came and the chaplain continued his intense prayer. About 2 A.M. the sergeant awakened and felt compelled to walk to the water’s edge. He discovered a metal float, which had drifted up on the beach—an octane gas. In a few hours the crew reached their home base safely.

An investigation revealed that the skipper of a U. S. tanker, finding his ship in sub-infested waters, had his gasoline cargo removed so as to minimize the danger in case of torpedo hit. Barrels were placed on barges and put adrift six hundred miles from where Johnson and the plane crew were forced down. God had navigated one of these barges through wind and current and beached it fifty steps from the stranded men.

—Earl C. Willer

2052 Stanley Draws On And On

When James Gordon Bennett sent Henry M. Stanley to search for David Livingstone in Africa, he said: “Draw on me for a thousand pounds today to provide your equipment, and when that is exhausted, draw on me for another thousand, and when that is done, draw another; but find Livingstone.”

God authorizes us to draw on Him. When one day’s supply is exhausted, we are to draw another and then another, and then another.

—Sunday School Times

2053 Not Too Big For God To Give

Once when Caesar Augustus had bestowed a princely gift upon one whom he wished especially to honor, the recipient was so overcome with the gift’s magnitude that he exclaimed, “This is too great a gift for me to receive.”

“’But it is not too great a gift for me to give,” Caesar replied, pleased with his own bounty.

—Evangelistic Illustration

2054 The Exceeding Riches

During the invasion of Scotland after a long siege of one of the castles, the invaders, thinking their foes must be near the point of starvation, sent a message demanding surrender. In reply, a great string of fresh fish was hung over the wall. A subterranean passage to the sea enabled them to obtain a boundless supply. So are “the exceeding riches of His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7)

—Wilbur E. Nelson

2055 More Than Conquerors

When Lord Nelson reported to the British admiralty his great victory over the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile, he said that “victory” was not a large enough word to describe what had taken place.

When Paul spoke of the victory which through Jesus Christ he had won over all the ills and adversaries and temptations and woes of life, that greatest of all words, “conqueror,” was not sufficient to describe it; and therefore he said “more than conquerors, through him that loved us.”

—C. E. Macartney

2056 Enjoying Margin Of Power

The first time we crossed the Rockies by automobile it was in a 1916-model car. The steep grade called for all that the old motor could offer. The water in the radiator boiled and several times we were stuck. Only by repeated efforts did we reach the top. There was no margin of power. We did not enjoy the mountain scenery under those circumstances.

The second time we crossed the same mountains we had a 1922-model car. In comparison with the first experience, we did well. By employing all available power, we kept going, but the strain under which the climb was made took away much of the pleasure of the trip.

More recently a third trip carried us over the same Rockies in a new car. That was different. The motor took the mountain climbs easily. We could stop by the roadside and enjoy the scenery. It required less time to travel the same distance and with that margin of power we enjoyed our travels. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

—Ezra G. Roth

2057 Don’t Move … Don’t Give

After my election in 1928, Mr. Coolidge undertook to give me some fatherly advice as to how to run the White House. He said:

“You have to stand every day three or four hours of visitors. Nine-tenths of them want something they ought not to have. If you keep dead-still they will run down in three or four minutes. If you even cough or smile they will start up all over again.”

—Selected

2058 Epigram On God (Provisions of)

•     When you have nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware that God is enough.

—Maude Royden

•     God never commands anyone to do something without telling him about the provisions.

•     Will the guardian of a well die of thirst?

—Malay Proverb

•     An Irishwoman approached the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray and asked for alms. When she saw him put his hand in his pocket, she cried, “May the blessing of God follow you all your life!” But when the author only pulled out his snuff box, she instantly added, “and never overtake you.”

See also: Prayers ; Salvation.