God Provides
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Read Psalm 104:24–35
I love to walk in nature. I hear the crunch of bark beneath my feet and the songs of birds hidden in the trees. I smell the soothing oil of the eucalypts. I see the brilliant autumn colours, with fiery flame trees heralding the feast of Pentecost. I feel the fresh air fill my lungs, my thoughts quietening, my heart opening.
I am grateful that, despite my urban living, I am surrounded by gardens, parks and nature reserves. I am heartened that more people recognise the many physical, mental and spiritual health benefits of time in nature. In Japan, some doctors even prescribe ‘forest bathing’ for their patients!
There is a mountain near my home that is especially healing for me. Sometimes, when I go there, I arrive feeling overwhelmed by a particular emotion or challenge. The densely wooded mountain envelops me like a kind of divine embrace. At the end of my walk, I am delivered back into the world with my soul restored.
How wonderful it is to come close to the creator in creation! God is our creator, provider and sustainer. God opens his hands and fills us with good things – not just for our physical bodies but also our minds and hearts. God continues to create and renew us by his presence, his Spirit. We rejoice and sing to the Lord!
What practices help you to know God’s presence? Do you have a favourite place in which to be renewed by God’s presence?
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the gentle night to you,
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.
(Traditional Celtic Prayer)
Renée lives on Ngunawal country with her family and belongs to the community at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, ACT. She works as a teacher and enjoys listening to music, reading, walking in nature and the challenge of solving cryptic crosswords.
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’ (Exodus 3:14a).
Read Exodus 2:23 – 3:15
‘I AM WHO I AM.’ A short sentence of simple words. But perhaps it sums up faith in a nutshell: God is certain but also full of mystery. ‘I AM’ brings us to the present. God is here now. God is present at all times and in all places.
‘I AM WHO I AM.’ God is certain of God’s identity and character. We can have confidence that God is consistent, dependable and forever.
But we don’t have the full picture yet. We see and know some of what God has revealed. We learn more of God as the Holy Spirit opens our ears to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, opens our eyes to the way God is at work, and opens our hearts to love. And there is more that is beyond our current grasp.
We can know part of who God is as revealed through Jesus and the Scriptures:
- I am the bread of life (John 6:35).
- I am the light of the world (John 8:12).
- I am the gate for the sheep (John 10:7).
- I am the good shepherd (John 10:11).
- I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
- I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6).
- I am the true vine (John 15:1).
- I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 21:6).
Which ‘I am’ statement is your favourite? I wonder which one is especially for you today.
God Almighty and God of mystery: just as you breathed your name, Yahweh, to Moses, help us to recognise your presence within our every breath. May your presence give us confidence and peace as we wonder at your mystery. Amen.
Renée lives on Ngunawal country with her family and belongs to the community at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, ACT. She works as a teacher and enjoys listening to music, reading, walking in nature and the challenge of solving cryptic crosswords.
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket … put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river (Exodus 2:3).
Read Exodus 2:1–22
As a mother, my heart aches for Moses’ mother and the anguish she must have experienced as she placed her baby in a basket in the water. How counterintuitive it must have been for her to let him go to protect him rather than hold him close. Her body would have been literally aching for him (ask any breastfeeding mother who is away from her baby when they are due for a feed).
What fate did she imagine might befall her son? There were so many risks – drowning, starvation, capture, murder. What courage and faith Moses’ mother demonstrated by putting him into the water! Our list of heroines in this story, starting yesterday with midwives Shiphrah and Puah, continues to grow.
The next heroine is quick-thinking Miriam, Moses’ sister, who seized an unexpected opportunity when Pharaoh’s daughter saw Moses. Not only did this reunite Moses with his family, but it also gave them income from Pharaoh’s own pockets as Moses’ mother was paid to breastfeed her own baby! I have so many questions about Miriam: Did her mother ask her to watch over baby Moses, or did she do that of her own accord? How old was she? Did she feel scared when she addressed Pharaoh’s daughter?
Pharaoh’s daughter. Perhaps the most surprising heroine in this story. She had compassion for baby Moses and rescued him, against her father’s mandate that all Hebrew boys be destroyed in the Nile.
In his papyrus basket (tevah in Hebrew), Moses was delivered from dangerous waters, with echoes back to the Ark (also called tevah) as a rescue from the waters of death. Perhaps this is also a foreshadowing of our own baptisms, as we are baptised into Christ’s death to be rescued from death, sin and evil. We are free to dance, just as Miriam did when the people of God crossed through the waters into freedom.
When are you touched by water in your daily life? As you bathe, cook, clean, farm, paint – whatever you do – you might like to remember your baptism and the blessings it brings. Perhaps you will also dance a little …
Loving God, you hear our cries. Thank you for rescuing us from death. Give us joy as we dance in the life that you give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Renée lives on Ngunawal country with her family and belongs to the community at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, ACT. She works as a teacher and enjoys listening to music, reading, walking in nature and the challenge of solving cryptic crosswords.
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live (Exodus 1:17).
Read Exodus 1:6–22
I love a story with a strong, smart, courageous woman as the protagonist. The first couple of chapters of Exodus are full of heroines.
Shiphrah and Puah are the courageous Hebrew midwives who disobeyed a king. They are the quick-thinking women who outwitted Pharaoh. They undermined his plans to kill, and they delivered babies safely, including Moses, who would later be delivered into the hands of Pharaoh’s family. Eventually, Moses helped to deliver the Israelites.
I wonder if Shiphrah and Puah knew the impact of their actions. Were they there when the people of God crossed through the waters into freedom? Did they join in the dancing? Shiphrah and Puah were ordinary people who were faithful to God. They wanted to do the right thing, even if it meant disobeying the king. They were faithful to God even though they couldn’t see the big picture and didn’t know how profound their actions would be. A small amount of almost undetectable yeast created something that grew into huge significance.
God used these two ordinary women to subvert the plans of a power-hungry king on a killing spree.
What injustices are happening in our world today? Are there powerful people causing death and destruction? Who are the vulnerable people who are suffering? How can our faith inform our responses to these situations? What small act of faith and courage can you take?
Loving God, you call us to act justly. Show us how we can be light in the world and give us the courage to act. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Renée lives on Ngunawal country with her family and belongs to the community at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, ACT. She works as a teacher and enjoys listening to music, reading, walking in nature and the challenge of solving cryptic crosswords.