Faith in practice

In teaching the fourth through sixth grade girls Sunday school class at my church, I use the Desiring God curriculum, How Majestic Is Your Name, which details the many names of God. Last Sunday we studied Jehovah-Jireh: "The Lord Will Provide."

As the girls and I were going through the lesson, I had the opportunity to share with them how I was planning to trust God with our future transportation needs. Our van was having some issues, but at that point on Sunday it was still running. I told the girls that I knew I would have to eventually trust God with the van, but what I didn't know is that the next day our van would break down for good.

Hebrews 11:1, of course, reminds us, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what do not see." Well, we're living in the tension between faith and certainty right now. Do we sit tight and see how God provides? Do we crunch numbers and see what kind of monthly payment we can afford? If we do the latter, does it negate the former? Is it possible to really trust at the same time you are scrambling to find the solution yourself?

In the past, my mistake is usually that when I trust God to provide, I place parameters on his provision. For instance, in this scenario, I think God's provision should look like a brand new car in the driveway tomorrow. I realize, however, He has provided for us already by allowing us to test-drive a car from Chevy for the past month and having our pastor offer us his family's second minivan for the weekend. In addition, when we go to my husband's family's farm next week for Thanksgiving, we'll bring home his parents' van as a loaner for a few weeks.

At the same time, we will begin looking for replacement options. We'll sweat a little over it, but we won't worry. Because the God who can give us a new Chevy for a month, a loaned van for the weekend, and another one for as long as we need it will continue to provide for our needs.

I have faith in that certainty.