A brief reflection on God's Providence
“Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” — Luke 12:29–32, WEBBE
The above Bible verses never seemed more profound than when I read it during the time I was financially insecure. It is indeed easier to say one trusts in God when all is going well and you have a job and enough money in the bank. But if you have next to nothing, how do you keep on believing? How do you offer your every worry to God?
“Seek first His Kingdom. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” These words are both comforting and challenging.
By seeking the Kingdom first, we receive the promise of Jesus. That everything else we need will be provided to us. But we must have the faith to let go of of fears and to trust that God will keep His word.
What I often do is that I try to seek material needs first so that I can have sufficient support in seeking God’s Kingdom later on. My end goal may be the Kingdom, but I fail to put it first. I think I wanted to be certain that I will not lack anything. Instead of relying upon God’s providence, I wanted to rely upon the resources I could count.
I pray that we may learn to do things in God’s way. We may sometimes feel that we have nothing left to rely on, but if we have God, we’d always have everything we need.
“When we’ve lost a friend, when a dream has failed, when we seem to have nothing left in the world to make life beautiful — that’s when God says, You’re richer than you think.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
Jocelyn Soriano is the author of “To Love an Invisible God” and “366 Days of Compassion.” To receive free e-books and other inspiring articles, you can subscribe to her Newsletter “Single Catholic Writer”.