"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19
There's only one thing in this life that can truly cause me to worry. It's the one thing can can consistently cause me to lose sleep, to be distracted and to be a pessimist. Want to know what it is? I bet I'm not the only person who worries about this. It's money. I found out the other day that I'm going to be stuck with several thousand dollars worth of doctor's bills. I incurred these bills when I was in the hospital in New York, the hospital forgave my bill with them, but the doctors I saw all billed separately, and I need to work it out with them for payment. I had applied for Medicaid, but that came in effect a bit too late to cover these bills.
I was fretting about these bills as I was doing my devotion this morning, and one of the passages I was reading was the one above from 1 Timothy chapter 6. I know it's not the situation I'm going through, it's written to people who have too much money and focus on it excessively, but I took something out of it I think because I'm focusing too excessively on money, or rather my lack thereof.
I'm forgetting to put my hope in God, how can I not? I managed to incur tens of thousands of dollars in hospital bills over the last several months and was all of it forgiven by the hospitals? You bet it was. I still have a lot of issues to go through dealing with my amputation, the prosthesis and other things, and I have insurance. How can I not praise God and continue to trust Him that it will all work out.
I'm not saying that I won't have to pay anything. I'm not saying that the bills will all just disappear, they may but I'm not praying for my bills to go away, and I'm not saying God will definitely work it our a certain way. What I am saying is that God will work it out. It could be that God will provide a way for me to pay the bills, it could be that someone else will help me out, and it could be that the doctors will forgive the bills. But that's not what I should be focusing on, I should be focusing on God's provision.
That verse really reminded me of the passage from Matthew chapter 6 talking about worry. If wou want to check it out, look at Matthew 6:25-34.
And because of that, my hymn for the day is "His Eye Is On The Sparrow"
Why do I feel discouraged
Why do the shadows come
And why does my heart feel lonely
And long for heaven and home
When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And i know He watches me
Chorus:
So I sing because I’m happy
And I sing because I’m free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
So I sing because I’m happy
And I sing because I’m free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches
And I know He watches
And I know He watches me
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