God Is My Provider

God is My Provider

By Pastor Jim May

This will be a short message. This has been a very trying and tiring week for us all with the passing of the storm and the events that have taken place. I feel that God would have me to just give you a few words of encouragement from the Bible and then probably, unless the Holy Spirit says otherwise, I will let you go early tonight to get some rest and prepare for the week ahead.

The stress of the past week is apparent in the face of everyone you meet. Sleepless nights in the heat of summer and concerns over what lay ahead have taken a toll. This afternoon, as I attempted to gather my thoughts for tonight, I was having a struggle with concentrating, fighting to stay awake while I typed the sermon for tonight. The message that I attempted to write just didn’t seem to be inspired, so I asked the Lord to show me what He would have me to say and I believe that He led me to a passage of scripture that will benefit us all.

In the days to come, there will doubtless be shortages of all sorts of things. Even today we were told that the drug stores were not accepting new prescriptions, or even renewing old prescriptions for a while. It wasn’t made clean how long this would last simply because the pharmacist doesn’t know either. The same may hold true in the next few weeks for bread, bottled water and most of the staple foods.

Some were saying this morning that the meat department of Wal-Mart was completely empty but that more was on the way.

We’ve already mentioned the lines at the gas pumps. With so many people vying for the same things, some things may be a little harder to get than normal.

It’s as though we are experiencing right now, just a little taste of what the whole world will face during the time of the Great Tribulation. Just think of what you are feeling right now, seeing right now, and think of it then as being worldwide and not just here in Louisiana and happening to people without any hope of things getting better.

Is there any doubt in your heart and mind that the words of Revelation could come true?

Revelation 6:4-8, "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

I don’t like what we have to face right now, while there is hope for a better tomorrow, and there is hope for recovery to a time of plenty. I certainly don’t want to be here when things are far worse than right now and with no such hope to recover.

If you have never been shaken before, get ready because your faith and your trust in God could soon be shaken to the core. God is going to separate the sheep from the goats in an effort to make us all “sheep of His pasture.”

As we began last week to hear rumors, true or not, of criminals stalking the streets to hi-jack cars and steal whatever they could get their hands on, I began to hear even people who claim to be Christians, saying that they were going home to get their guns and arm themselves. If that trend continues we will be living in a powder keg, waiting for the explosion to come. I feel that things have calmed down a little and perhaps we can avoid that kind of thing. I certainly hope so.

But the uneasy feeling and the fear that comes with such things can grip even the heart of a Christian if we allow it to. What must the world feel if we, who should trust in Jesus for our safety, will resort to drastic measures out of fear? They don’t have the same source of peace and faith in God that we should have as Christians. Now is when we will find out who really trusts God and who doesn’t!