Give us today our daily bread!
It is true: I can always trust God for eternal things. I know that there is “life after life”, I know that there is Heaven and Hell, I know that Jesus saved me from punishment and opened the way to the Father’s presence. One day… But today?
Do I believe I will have the money to pay the bills? Do I believe tomorrow’s exam will go well? Do I believe I have a chance to find a job? Maybe it’s best if I take care of these things myself?
I often think of a man who once came to a prayer meeting in our church and prayed like this: “God, help these good people, and I will manage on my own!” Each of us carries some of our own “damages of the past”. We’ve all been in situations when those in whom we placed our hopes, who made promises, on whom we depended, let us down… “The only person you can really trust is yourself” is one of the things we learn first.
Sister, brother, I will not tell you anything that you do not already know: your Father knows what you need.
He is present. He is not like your absent father or the busy mother.
He is interested. Your parents and your friends may not have had time for you. They were occupied with their problems, their burdens, and their obligations. What was the end of the world for you, may have been a small problem unworthy of attention for them at a critical moment.
He is able. At some points in the past, you were in situations when you and those dear people who were gathered around you, fully mobilized, full of love, and desired to help you, simply could not do that. Your problem was too big for them.
Whether it is today’s lunch or eternal destiny, your Father knows; your Father is here; your
Father cares; your Father can.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11)