God’s Provision and Our Desires

14 Comments

1. I love the perspective that you don’t look to work for your provision, but look to Him. I think that’s true no matter what you are doing.
   I was always taught that work is a blessing and a necessary component of a satisfying life. While in paradise, Adam and Eve had work to do tending the garden. Granted, the ground was not “cursed” at that point, but they still worked. (That also tells me that we will have work to do in Eternity, sorry!) For me, some of the most distinct lessons of Father teaching me to hear His voice were while I was working, and more often than not while doing some kind of physical labor. We are body, soul and spirit and all of it functions together. Not that I enjoy every moment of everything I do. But in God’s eyes I believe cleaning toilets is just as spiritual as preaching from a pulpit if I am doing it heartily as unto the Lord. Everything we put our hand to can take on a positive spiritual “aura” if you will, when we do it with love.

2. Thanks for responding to my question Wayne. Sorry, i was struggling with laryngitis when i left the message. I just wanted to clarify myself. I do work a job and i do enjoy it for the most part and am very grateful to have a job in this economy. It’s just that it has always been my hearts desire to be a full time mom to my three children. So far that has never been an option for me and i thought maybe i wasn’t seeing something the right way. I guess it’s like you said, maybe i just want to do what i want, not necessarily what God wants me to do. I have to let Him have his way not my way and that is not always easy to accept, but i will.

3. Also, God is good and i only work part time so i really can’t complain too much. :~)

4. While I agree it’s better not to look at life through a constant prism of fear, Wayne, Mr. Zakaria’s piece doesn’t seem to address the very real problem of our national debt, or that millions of people are unemployed and have stopped looking for work (which the media constantly glosses over when reporting the unemployment numbers. They don’t take into account the universe of jobs has shrunk because when people stop looking for work, they’re no longer counted in the percentage. Think Animal Farm statistics being used to convince everything’s all right when it’s not).

   I get that some people may need to be unemployed for God’s work in them to proceed (getting them out of the performance treadmill and all). I’m one of them. But not nearly as many as it has become. The media (including Zakaria) constantly twist the news to their biases.

   What I’m trying to say is, I wouldn’t take Zakaria’s piece as evidence of what he claims. Whatever his statistics are can very well be twisted to his purpose to make his point. You touched on that in this podcast when you said how you wouldn’t have come to the conclusion he made if you just looked at what the media is reporting. Be careful not to be sucked into a false narrative.

5. Hi Tricia, thanks for filling in a bit more details, and certainly the Scripture you quoted doesn’t apply to that. Moms work harder than anyone I know. And I can understand the desire to be a full-time mom instead of in the workforce. Both my wife and daughter got to be stay-at-home moms, but then they were also very busy with a lot of volunteer stuff because they had the time as well… Let Father show you what he has for you and then let him teach you how to be at rest and content in it..

6. Steve, I don’t think his point (or mine) was everything is great! I think the point was that there are some positive things to look at in our world. We mostly only hear the negative and there is lots of that. His piece wasn’t about the unemployment and debt crisis of our nation, which is a huge deal for sure.

7. wow, I can’t believe (OK I can) how Zakaria’s article is criticized for everything it doesn’t mention as if that somehow discredits all his points. I am encouraged by the statistics regarding both domestic violence as well as international conflict.

   Wayne can you give the details for that article–title, magazine issue, date, etc.?

   Great podcast overall. Thanx, and have a great Christmas!

8. Like I said, statistics are often twisted to suit someone’s purpose. It is a very real and rampant problem in both the media and political parties.

   If the statistics Zakaria cited are truly backed up by actual facts, great. But after all that global warming hooey that supposedly had a consensus of scientists say that mankind was at fault, then seeing how these same scientists only get grants from the government if they reach a certain conclusion that they want (and many other examples I’ve seen over the years), I now have a very deep level of cynicism with things like this. Politics has infected EVERYTHING in our society.

   Still, I truly hope that what Zakaria cites IS true.

9. Hi Tricia, being a mum (I’m Australian so I can spell it with a u), of 4 children I have really been thankful to God that I could look after them full time. For some of that time my husband was a full time student so we didn’t have much money and I did the very rare job that I could do from home or with my child along side me. We grew vegetables and didn’t drive our car much and we rented a cheap house near a park, for a while I had only one pair of shoes! I was very content with not having much money. occasionally someone would give us a small amount of money. Now we have more money and we are not as content (very strange!) It is more then a full time job caring for children it requires a lot of hard work and doesn’t pay and doesn’t have prestige either! But it is extremely worthwhile and I hope you would ask God for direction with this. I think there are some things to consider like the age of your children the health of each of them what individual needs they have, how you will eat etc.Can you start a business from home or away from home where your children would be welcome? I hope this has been helpful.

10. Merry,
    Thank you for your very kind words! They are very helpful! Blessings.

11. No matter how we make a living, Christ must be our life.

12. Wayne,

    I enjoyed this podcast very much. The advice you gave about work and particularly about people who want to work in a more creative capacity was spot-on. As a friend of mine used to say about his job,”It’s my living but not my life!” One of the reasons he didn’t take many promotions was to keep his time available for the things Father gave him to do outside his job. But he was still grateful for his job! Our passions and income do not have to be tied together. Thank you for wise counsel.

13. Enjoyed reading the “e-discussion” here. What a complex topic with all of us in different spaces on the journey. I am finding that the more I engage a discussion w/ Father…through the stress of seeing passions, giftings, finances all come together…it’s inside of this relationship. I appreciate the phrase “Let’s dialogue through this rather than principle our way”. No…not everything is settled for me. There are places where it seems like an overgrown garden rather than a neatly ordered piece of land : ) Perhaps what is slowly settling more and more is that I am in this with him…or rather that He has me firmly in His embrace as I walk forward one step at a time. Challenging … but worth it!

14. Wayne,
    Love what you said about work for us “creative” types…a great book to read for those who wish to “live by their craft” is Jon Acuff’s “Quitter”. I got the chance to meet him recently, and really kicked me in the butt about working toward my dream job while still working my day job.

    It is worth a read…

    Thanks for all you do and for talking to me years ago, when I gained freedom from the institutional church…I will never forget your kindness to me way before you became “famous”! Ha! Ha!

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