When God Packs Our Lunch
“The storehouse of God’s Word was never meant for mere scrutiny, nor even primarily for study but for sustenance.” ~ Vance Havner
One memory I have of my school days is packed lunches. I can remember my sandwich being wrapped in waxed paper and learning how to fold that waxed paper just right so that it would not come unwrapped. In my younger years, these midday meals would be prepared and placed in a cute little lunch box. As I got older, lunch boxes were replaced by the more “mature” brown paper bags.
My packed lunches were not something that I needed as I left for school in the morning but rather a source of strength later in the day. Whether a cute lunch box or brown paper bag, these meals were important back then as they sustained me through my afternoon classes. Without them, my energy level would have decreased significantly thus affecting my ability to concentrate.
As Christians, we should be faithful to daily feed on the Word of God. As the above quote reminds us, God’s Word is our source of sustenance! When we desire to be fed and are faithful to read our Bibles, God will be faithful to supply the strength and wisdom needed for each day. Ah, how often I have been perplexed about a situation, and as I opened up my Bible to read, the answer was right there before my eyes!
And then, there are other times when God will “pack our lunch” for us. By saying this, I am referring to those times when we are reading or perhaps listening to God’s Word preached and a certain truth stands out to us. It is as if God Himself has just highlighted a certain passage in our Bible…or turned the sound system up on a certain truth stated by the preacher. We may sit there for a minute and wonder WHY this truth is resonating in our heart – as far as we know, it has absolutely nothing to do with our current circumstances. As far as we know, it is not something we need in our lives at the moment.
I am reminded of different times in my life when the Lord has done this for me. One time in particular when, as I was listening to a preaching cd, the preacher made a statement that really didn’t have anything to do with the topic of the message but the truth seemed to magnify in my ears. It was as if the Lord handed me a bag lunch. You know what? A couple years later, I found myself opening that brown paper bag, taking out the “lunch” and feeding on that truth for the next few years. That “packed lunch”…that TRUTH from God’s Word…sustained me through a very difficult season of my life.
This morning, my challenge to you is two-fold. First of all, if you do not have a time set aside each day to read and meditate on Scripture, I pray you will see the importance of doing so. We are almost at the end of 2017 – why not make it a New Year’s goal to spend time daily in God’s Word. But, don’t wait until January 1st – start today!
Secondly, as you read your Bible, be careful not to “eat” just for your present spiritual needs. Ask the Lord to help you to be sensitive to His still small voice as He imparts truth to you that doesn’t seem to apply to your life at the moment. If the truth is resonating in your heart, it is quite possibly a “bag lunch” that the Lord has prepared for you. Don’t leave it setting on the kitchen counter – pick it up and take it with you. Most likely you will find yourself reaching into that bag one day…for your own sustenance or the sustenance of a friend in need.
“Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.” Psalm 119:92