Do you think God cares about cheese? It seems like a strange reference but let me see if I can explain. When I made my way back home from the pig pen, I was desperate to find out who God was and what He had to say about, well pretty much, everything. (You can read some of my story here.) I had a dear friend step in and guide me along the way. He would say stuff like “God told me this and told my friend this…” I would politely say something like “that’s nice” all the while thinking “this guy is crazy.” He once told me that God told his friend, in the middle of the night, to “stop drinking Diet Coke.” OK, that was too much and I told him so. He told me that some time later his friend was diagnosed with some stomach problem that was made worse with the consumption of soft drinks. So God telling him to stop with the soda was for his benefit. Now I see that as a really cool story. At that time I thought it was just crazy. You know what I mean. We all have a point where we go from “God doesn’t do stuff like that” to “Yay God.”
Coincidentally after that exchange I really needed some answers from God about my future so why not give it a try. It was a little one-sided and selfish in retrospect but it at least it got me to the point of listening for “something.” I started spending time every day in “quiet time” or “mediation” or “praying little and listening more.” I would journal so I wouldn’t miss anything. It was a really exciting time. For the first time in my life I really “felt the presence of God” when I spent time waiting on Him. At one point I had such a profound thought. “Does God care about cheese?” I know it sound weird but I had been seeking Him for answers in big stuff like jobs, places to live, you know life changing stuff. But then I had this imagine of a person standing in the grocery store looking at the various cheese brands. I wondered if they asked God would He had a preference? I began to consider what things are God things and what things are people things? I began to see a smearing of the dividing line between the realm of God and the possessions of man. I began to ask if God had a specific will regarding stuff that I thought was “beneath Him?”
You already know the answer. He knows the number of hairs on your head. That seems like pretty detailed and small stuff. The question is do we trust Him in the small stuff? I believe the answer to that question will unlock a greater faith. I believe when we learn to trust Him in the smallest of things we learn to surrender the very center of desire for control, our selfish place. When we learn to surrender at that level there is no more pride, place of offense, self-protection mechanisms, desire for revenge, place for the enemy to tempt, places of inadequacy, touch points for insecurity, restrictions in provision, inability to love…the list goes on an on. Let me show you the journey. I’ll be brief. Check out this verse, you know it well:
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. (AMP)
There are two “things” in this verse. The “things” associated with hope and the “things” associated with the unseen. The second mention of “things” is the word pragmaton. This word comes from the same root as the word pragmatic in English. The “things” here are practical matters, legal matters, business dealings, issues, contracts, and other stuff like that based on the Greek. In the LLT I would say it has to do with a resolution, not necessarily of conflict, about a decision or agreement that needs to be made. This resolution requires mediation or advocacy. So I believe the second part of this verse is saying that our faith increases as we pursue the evidence, proof, conviction of God working behind the scenes in our everyday issues. Isn’t that cool? I believe that is exactly what the mighty men and women of faith did. Can you see Abraham, the transient, every day waking up and relying, trusting on the provision of God? Can you see that the faith built-in that relationship was what gave him the confidence to climb the mountain with Isaac?
James says every good gift comes from God. The key word is “every.” Not just the ones you really want or need or ask for. Even the smallest mina is from Him, for Him and important to Him. Take a look at the parable in Luke 19. The difference between the first two men and the last was not what THEY DID, it is what they surrendered. The first two gave all the credit to the master and his minas. The last feared the master and denied that the mina was the master’s seed or investment and therefore the master didn’t deserve the credit or spoils. When we don’t trust God in the smallest of things, aren’t we like this third servant? When we claim control over stuff, aren’t we burying His provision?
God loves us so much that He does care about everything in our lives. The joy is in knowing and “looking” for where He is providing. The joy is in the “rest” of knowing He is providing. The minas work for themselves. It is not only possible but absolutely necessary. The finished work of Jesus is so finished that there is absolutely nothing that remains to be done. We only need to believe. As we believe and see the proof of the unseen work of God our faith explodes. As our faith explodes we can’t help but surrender control to the most amazing and loving God. Listen, He can’t help but love you and provide for you because of what Jesus accomplished. Here is the best part. It is all seemless. We have the mind of Christ. We only need to believe it. This faith that is growing inside you is the confidence, the assurance, the title deed of all your expected good outcome. When you are deciding what cheese to buy, you know with all confidence that you can trust God completely to have already given you the will and way to make the right decision (Phil 2:13).
Isn’t God so amazing? Yay God.
Lance
alancetotheheart 