“The lot is cast into the lap,
but the decision is the Lord’s alone.” NRSV
Do you know what’s going to happen today? I don’t. We can plan and hope and dream, but the fact is that no moment even truly exists for us except this one moment. Who knows what will happen next? Only the Lord.
There is nothing wrong with planning for the future, as long as our plans don’t hinder our becoming what God has planned.
“Then Jesus told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.’” (Luke 12:16-21 NRSV).
In this time of uncertain economy, it is a natural tendency to begin to close oneself in, to become tighter with our money, to become more worried and concerned, to allow the uncertainties overwhelm us. I think that Jesus chose to talk about a “rich” man in this parable because we often see money as being the protection for the future. If we have enough money, the future will be fine.
The fact is, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. The Lord might call any one of us Home tonight and all of us concerns would have been for naught because they wouldn’t now matter. Rather, what is important is making sure that we stay to the task, that we carefully analyze our hearts and our behaviors so that we are continuing—even in times of great stress—to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.
Paul talked about the Macedonian church that gave even though they were extremely poor (2 Corinthians 8). They gave even beyond what they could “afford” to give: “they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means” (v. 3). In these times when each of us is wondering whether we will be able to keep our homes, whether or not we will be able to keep our cars or go on our vacations or pay for our children’s schooling, we need to be even more conscious about giving to others. Our faith—our true trust in God to supply our daily needs—is demonstrated by our willingness to provide for those around us who are also in need: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:15-17 NRSV).
Do we truly believe that “the decision is the Lord’s alone?” In other words, do we truly believe that He is in charge, that He is able to provide, that He will take care of us? Then, in times such as these, we should become even more generous, even more giving, even more interested in the concerns of others and how we can help.
My dear ones, He is fully able to provide for us! We need, in great love, to provide for each other.
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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