“For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (Matt. 6:32)
Expanded Passage: Matthew 6:28-34
Seventeen years—that’s how long we prayed and waited for God’s answer. Somewhere in the final paperwork of selling our first home and purchasing the next, my husband and I were caught in a legal nightmare and became the not-so-proud owners of two homes. Our real estate agent assured us we’d find another buyer quickly, but the quick sale never came. From that day forward, we were on a seventeen-year prayer journey, raising kids while making two mortgage payments, paying school debts and taxes, and facing other needs along the way.
Regularly, Jesus encountered people with great need. One or two individuals turned into crowds of people pressing in for his touch, overcome with their circumstances, exhausted from trying, wishing, and enduring their broken, painful places. Jesus was the only hope for their needs and all-consuming worries. As Jesus loved, healed, and provided hope, he taught them that God knew their needs and encouraged them to put God and his kingdom first, above all else.
Those seventeen years were hard. We struggled with our foolishness and God’s delayed rescue. But in the waiting, we determined to heed Jesus’ words and put God first. As we tithed, served the church with abandon, and daily leaned into him, our faith grew. We found God was trustworthy, regularly providing for our needs. Seventeen years later, our rescue came—God sold our first home too.
Take comfort in knowing God knows your need.
Angela Alvarado is the assistant editor for Communication and Administration of The Wesleyan Church and a graduate of Wesley Seminary, (IN).
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
