One Day at a Time
For many decades Australians had the assurance, from the
Government, that when they reached retirement age, and didn’t have enough money
saved to live on, that an Age Pension would be available to them. That was a
wonderful arrangement and took a lot of the stress and concern out of the lives
of retirees because people felt confident knowing that they would have an
amount of money paid into their bank account each fortnight that would be
sufficient for them to live on for the next 14 days if they manage it
carefully. You needed to have faith in “Centerlink” to the extent that you
believed they would provide the cash on a continuing basis, of course. Because,
without faith, people could worry themselves sick towards the end of each
fortnight wondering where the next money to live on was going to come from,
which would be stupid. FAITH: how very important that is.
I was thinking about this when I was repeating the “Lord’s
Prayer” that Jesus taught his disciples, where He says “Give us this day our daily bread”: Why did he mention Just one
day’s bread? Why not “Give us all the bread that we will need for the next 12
months”? Well, we can be assured that Jesus didn’t make statements that weren’t
well thought out, He had a very good reason. As far as the Government is
concerned, they wouldn’t give a lump sum because they know that some people
cannot handle money properly and would waste it on something unnecessary and
then starve. In Jesus case it is different, He wants us to live one day at a
time in His company involving him in our work and trusting him to see that all
our needs will be supplied. In Philippians 4:6 we are told to not worry about
anything, but let God know our problems and be assured that he will fix them.
(check Philippians 4:6 for yourself, it is in the New Testament). It is like
the situation a farmer finds himself in each year when he would like to sow a
crop of wheat, but he knows that there is only enough moisture in the soil to
germinate the seed and maintain it for a few weeks, however it will take 6 or 7
months, and a certain amount of rain each month, to grow the crop and then some
nice fine hot weather to harvest it. Well then, is he gambling if he sows without
that certainty? It certainly looks like
it. However, Solomon, (or some other wise king) who had “been there, done that”
wrote the book of Ecclesiastes thousands of years ago and made the observation in
chapter 11 verse 4 that “anyone who looks
at the wind shall not sow and anyone looking at the clouds will not reap”.
Which is exactly right. Nevertheless, my observation from being personally
involved as a farmer, and also studying the bible, is that we need a personal
relationship with our Heavenly Father. If we do have that relationship and are
prepared to have faith, we can relax in the promise that “My God shall supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19), so then
there is no gamble associated with it. Just as Centerlink doesn’t supply a lump
sum and people trust them to make regular payments, so we need to trust God.
Now this is not “Kismet” or fatalism (“whatever will be will be” type of
thinking). Certainly not! It is faith
born of “hearing and hearing from the
word of God”. “Faith, without which no person will please God.” And
realising that God alone knows what is best for us we can rest assured as
Romans 8:28 says that “All things work together for good for those who love God, the called
according to
His purpose.” How about the Shearers or the Shop Assistants and such, do
they have to be concerned about the continuity of their jobs and their wages? Well,
here again the answer is “yes”, unless they develop a Father/Child relationship
with God and thus become “joint heirs
with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Having made that commitment Philippians 4:19
says “my God shall supply all your need”
so they will always be looked after, of course they may not remain serving
behind a counter or shearing a sheep or whatever, but the world is full of
satisfying occupations that would be ideal for their natural gifting. It really
amounts to this: Do we want our lives to be under the guidance of Jesus and
God’s Holy Spirit or do we want to be independent and “Paddle our own canoe”
without any guidance? More “food for thought”, Best wishes, Tom.
For many decades Australians had the assurance, from the
Government, that when they reached retirement age, and didn’t have enough money
saved to live on, that an Age Pension would be available to them. That was a
wonderful arrangement and took a lot of the stress and concern out of the lives
of retirees because people felt confident knowing that they would have an
amount of money paid into their bank account each fortnight that would be
sufficient for them to live on for the next 14 days if they manage it
carefully. You needed to have faith in “Centerlink” to the extent that you
believed they would provide the cash on a continuing basis, of course. Because,
without faith, people could worry themselves sick towards the end of each
fortnight wondering where the next money to live on was going to come from,
which would be stupid. FAITH: how very important that is. 
I was thinking about this when I was repeating the “Lord’s
Prayer” that Jesus taught his disciples, where He says “Give us this day our daily bread”: Why did he mention Just one
day’s bread? Why not “Give us all the bread that we will need for the next 12
months”? Well, we can be assured that Jesus didn’t make statements that weren’t
well thought out, He had a very good reason. As far as the Government is
concerned, they wouldn’t give a lump sum because they know that some people
cannot handle money properly and would waste it on something unnecessary and
then starve. In Jesus case it is different, He wants us to live one day at a
time in His company involving him in our work and trusting him to see that all
our needs will be supplied. In Philippians 4:6 we are told to not worry about
anything, but let God know our problems and be assured that he will fix them.
(check Philippians 4:6 for yourself, it is in the New Testament). It is like
the situation a farmer finds himself in each year when he would like to sow a
crop of wheat, but he knows that there is only enough moisture in the soil to
germinate the seed and maintain it for a few weeks, however it will take 6 or 7
months, and a certain amount of rain each month, to grow the crop and then some
nice fine hot weather to harvest it. Well then, is he gambling if he sows without
that certainty? It certainly looks like
it. However, Solomon, (or some other wise king) who had “been there, done that”
wrote the book of Ecclesiastes thousands of years ago and made the observation in
chapter 11 verse 4 that “anyone who looks
at the wind shall not sow and anyone looking at the clouds will not reap”.
Which is exactly right. Nevertheless, my observation from being personally
involved as a farmer, and also studying the bible, is that we need a personal
relationship with our Heavenly Father. If we do have that relationship and are
prepared to have faith, we can relax in the promise that “My God shall supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19), so then
there is no gamble associated with it. Just as Centerlink doesn’t supply a lump
sum and people trust them to make regular payments, so we need to trust God.
Now this is not “Kismet” or fatalism (“whatever will be will be” type of
thinking). Certainly not! It is faith
born of “hearing and hearing from the
word of God”. “Faith, without which no person will please God.” And
realising that God alone knows what is best for us we can rest assured as
Romans 8:28 says that “All things work together for good for those who love God, the called 
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