Sermon Theme for Sunday, August 2
The Lord Provides
The hardest times to trust in God are the times we need to trust him most. It’s easy to “trust” God when your job is great; you are healthy; your relationships are stable and fulfilling; when the sun is shining in your life. But what happens when your life is suddenly overshadowed by dark days?
When tragedy or conflict affects us, we may wonder if God continues to care and provide for us. When Elijah’s call to repentance came with the promised famine, it affected Elijah as much as anyone else in Israel. God’s plan for his preservation must have sounded less than ideal.
When our circumstances make us doubt whether God still cares for us, we need to remember some important facts. Paul tells us to consider the spiritual blessings that God has given us. We were chosen, predestined, adopted as sons and heirs. If we look at the spiritual blessings God provides to us, how could we doubt he will provide for us physically? This is Paul’s point in the Gospel Acclamation: will he not also graciously give us all things?
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. It is the miracle that Jesus performed to answer his disciples’ doubts about trusting God in times of deep adversity. The miracle proclaimed the nature of God’s provision. There is no place so remote, no hour too late, no lunch too small, no crowd too big for God to make your cup overflow.