Reflections: Remembering God’s provision

Have I ever told you about the time God met a need we weren’t sure how to manage? Oh, wait . . . Which one? 

Recently I studied a devotional about Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers, recorded in Luke chapter 17. As Jesus entered a village, the men, standing outside the village because their disease excluded them from the community, called out, “Master, have mercy!” 

And He did. He instructed them to go show themselves to the priests, who had the authority to pronounce them clean and allow them back into society. As they went, they were healed. 

Leaving before seeing results must have taken a step of confidence in Jesus’ ability to grant their request; so we can’t fault their faith. However, Luke next tells us that one—only one—returned to thank Jesus, leading to our Lord’s question, “Where are the nine?” 

The devotional writer explored Jesus’ possible thoughts: Why did only one man return to say “thank you”? Was Jesus sad that the others didn’t? That led the writer to think about times when Jesus might have wondered, “Where’s [Joey]?” And I thought, does Jesus wonder, “Where’s Cindy?” 

Luke also says the one who did return “was a Samaritan.” A product of intermarriage between Israelites and their Assyrian conquerors, Samaritans were despised by Jews as unclean. In addition to his gratitude, was the man who returned overwhelmed that Jesus healed him without disparaging his identity? 

But which of us are worthy, in our own power, of God’s attention? Have I taken Jesus’ work of atonement for granted? And when I receive a special blessing or answer to prayer, do I thank Him?

In my prayer journal, I actually do sometimes write “Praise God!” or “Thank you!” beside previous entries for which I’ve seen an answer. But for each one I have recorded, there are more that I COULD have thanked Him for. 

The story also reminded me of God’s amazing provision years ago when I was pregnant with our youngest son. We lived in Harrison, Arkansas, and shopped regularly at Hudson’s Supermarket. The store issued cards to be punched when a person shopped there, and each cardholder’s name was placed in a “squirrel cage” at the front of the store for a weekly drawing. If the person whose name was drawn had the card punched that week, the minimum prize was $500; if not, the person got a consolation prize and the dollar amount went up. 

Since my part-time job did not have paid maternity leave and I would miss a semester, we knew that our budget would be pretty tight to cover expenses. We had actually joked about maybe winning the “Hudson’s jackpot,” but it hadn’t happened. 

Until it did. That week, I shopped at the store as usual; and on drawing day, we were driving past on another errand when my daughter yelled, “Mom! Look! It’s your name!” 

Sure enough—there it was on the marquee. Not only had I won, but the jackpot had risen high enough to pay off our car! Eliminating that expense was just enough to make our budget work. 

I still shop at that store often. And the day after reading that devotional, I felt prompted to share that 30-year-old story with the young man helping bag and load my groceries. Rather than treating it as a crazy old-lady story, he was intrigued. “Wow! That’s amazing! God knew you needed that amount!” I reassured him that God does truly care about our circumstances. 

As those lepers reentered town, I’m sure they excitedly shared their story; the Samaritan was likely even more grateful, realizing he, too, had value. And in recalling that long-ago provision, I was able to share it with someone. I don’t know that young man’s current needs, but he seemed encouraged, and I hope that when God meets his need, he too will be thankful and share the news.