All I Have Needed Thy Hand Hath Provided

It hit me this past weekend like a truck.  I was about to start swirling down the complaining spiral.  Another week had went by and still no container.  The container that we were shopping for exactly one year ago to date.  The container that we filled at the beginning of this year.  The container that left Iowa in March and arrived in Mozambique in late July.  The container that has yet to make its way here to Chongwe, Zambia.  The items on this container include a table and chairs for us to eat on, our queen bed, 2 futon sofas for our living room, 3 futon beds for the kiddos, pots/pans/utensils/plates/cups/silverware for the kitchen, toys and homeschool items for kids, blankets and pillows, and other such things that would really help make our house easier to live in and plain and simple, more homey.
As I looked around our little place this weekend, God quieted me before Him.  And a line from one of the greatest hymns of all time entered my mind: "All I have needed thy hand hath provided"...
And I realized, I don't "need" these things from the container.  God has provided me with a bed to sleep on, beds for my kids to sleep on, a little kids table for the kids to eat on, a few pots and pans as well as a few dishes and silverware.  He has provided me with food to eat, a safe place to live, clothes to wear, soap to keep clean, medicine if we are sick... He has provided abundantly more than I even think I "need".  My Jesus Calling devotional put it best: "The one thing you absolutely need is the one thing you can never lose: My presence with you."  Praising God today for always being there, for never leaving my side, for always providing, for saving my life through His work on the cross.  If that is all God had ever done for me, that is enough.  But that's the cool thing about God, He doesn't ever stop blessing us-He is too good and too caring to stop, we just have to have the right perspective and recognize the blessings instead of always thinking about what we don't have.
I told you that this would be an ongoing lesson for me this year, the complaining spiral can drown you if your perspective is off.  Watch for some coming stories of people here that are helping shape my perspective and maybe they will help you too.

  Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with Thee,

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,

As Thou hast been,Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;

Join with all nature in manifold witness,

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

(Refrain)

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own great presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.

Listen to it here! Click below:

Great is Thy Faithfulness