A special daily reminder

by Paul Zabel

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10: 29-31).

Rev. Paul Zabel

Placed appropriately on the windowsill that is located directly behind our kitchen sink is a piece of wood inscribed with the words: “Good morning! This is God! I will be handling all of your problems today!” I mentioned that this piece of wood with the statement inscribed upon it is “placed appropriately” behind our kitchen sink, because every morning I see those words before me as I fill my water glass to take my prescribed medications, before I go out the door to encounter whatever God has in store for me on that particular day.

So often during the course of each day, the tempter comes to us and tries to persuade us whatever challenges or obstacles come our way we will have to face and tackle on our own. In doing so, that old evil foe pulls a number of items out of his bag of tricks. For example, sometimes he tries to convince us to go along with the crowd and to be more concerned about what other people will think, rather than to follow the path and direction that our God would have us take. At other times, he tries to deceive us into compromising our beliefs, to veer away from the faith that the Holy Spirit has placed into our hearts. And one of his all time tried and true ways, it seems these days, to lead us away from leaning and trusting in God as we should, is to throw a number of things at us at once, in order for us to begin to doubt God’s love and care for us and to get us to question the promise that God has given to us that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

It is at this point that we should listen very carefully to the voice of God. Perhaps you are able to remember how, as a little child, when something happened to you during the course of the day that hurt you deeply, how you would run sobbing, with tears in your eyes, into the arms of your mother. And how, if that same trouble even kept you from falling asleep when you went to bed that night, your mother seemed to somehow magically know that, and would appear magically at the side of your bed and tenderly say to you: “Go to sleep now. Everything will be different in the morning.”

God is much like a loving mother. When life is weighed down with burdens and we have lost our wings of faith, we need to hear God tell us, “Do not worry, tomorrow will be another day.

I will be in it to help you and to give you strength to face your problems. I will carry your burdens, too. I will forgive you for past mistakes and forget them, and tomorrow we will start a
new day.” And then when that new day comes, also to have God say to us once again: “Good morning! This is God! I will be handling all of your problems today!”

When people come to us and share their problems with us, how often do we hear them say something to the effect of: “I look at myself and I don’t see how I am ever going to have the strength to face my problems.” Perhaps, this is precisely the trouble. We look inside at our own little talents and capacities. None of us has enough resources, if that were all that counted. What we fail to realize is that there is still God, that God who has created us, redeemed us, and made us His own, who is still concerned and cares for each one of us, ever conscious of all the problems and difficulties we face in our lives!

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Rev. Paul Zabel is President of the East District of Lutheran Church–Canada.

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