The Peace in Provision
Jake Lawlor // UGA Student & Student Ministry Intern
Yvon Chouinard is one of the most famous rock climbers in history and the founder of Patagonia. While Patagonia is surely his more famous and recognizable career achievement, he spent his years prior to becoming a world-famous entrepreneur and environmentalist scaling some of the most famous cliffs in the world, namely El Capitan in Yosemite National Park with its tallest wall measuring around 3,000 feet tall, twice the size of the Empire State Building. Like most of you reading this, I am no expert in rock climbing. However, I do understand that Yvon Chouinard knows a thing or two about facing fearsome, treacherous experiences. This is why I find it so fascinating that the man who made a career out of climbing 3,000-foot granite walls once said,
“Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all”.
I personally wouldn’t consider myself a very fearful person in the standard understanding of things people are afraid of. I love heights, I’ve flown on plenty of airplanes, and I’m fine around spiders and snakes. However, this quote from Chouinard expresses a shared sentiment far deeper about us: we share a common fear of not knowing things. This is observed on very small scales in our lives, like the feeling of being a social outsider who is missing out on an event or a joke or the grave feeling of studying for an exam where the concepts you read feel foreign and out of your control. It can also be seen on a much larger scale, like the feelings of doubt and uncertainty that plague thoughts about your future. As people, we want to know things, to be in the loop, and to feel like we’ve got things under control and a lot of the anxieties that we face are rooted in this fear of the unknown.
Jesus, while teaching His disciples how to pray, very briefly but powerfully addresses this fear. In Luke 11:2-4, focussing specifically on verse 3, Luke writes:
“And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
In Jesus’ model to His disciples on how they should pray, the first request made to God by His children is for “daily bread”. This is clearly metaphorical, Jesus wasn’t just hungry during this specific teaching and He knew that bread within the context of Scripture carries an image of provision, of being well-fed and having what you need.
In the original Greek manuscripts of this passage, along with the recording in Matthew 6 which quotes Jesus the same way, the word used for “daily” is “epiousion”. Although this word is commonly translated in our Bibles to say “daily”, its meaning is unclear because the ancient Greek manuscripts of Luke 11 and Matthew 6 are the only two texts in the entirety of our preserved records of the language that use this word. The word “daily” in the ancient Greek language has its own word, “hemera”, which is used in other New Testament passages, so many scholars have challenged our common translation of this verse and believe that more is being communicated here.
Through centuries of studying the history and context of this word, we have seen different proposed meanings for this word that give us an even greater understanding of what Jesus is teaching us through this prayer. This request to God has been understood by different people as being for supersubstantial bread (something that is above our average material needs), bread that is necessary for existence, bread for the future, or bread that doesn’t run out. All of these ideas and translations point, combined with the image that bread provides in Scripture, point to a simple declaration that Jesus wants us to acknowledge in our prayers:
The Lord provides.
What a beautiful assurance we have as people who know the Lord and live in His will; that He has given us all that we need and will continue to do so! This verse in Jesus’ model for our prayers allows us to acknowledge before God that, as long as He is providing for us (Philippians 4:19, He is!), we have all that we need. It’s an acknowledgment that the God who designed the entire universe determined that what you have today, which includes all of your present blessings, the obstacles still in the way, and the things that remain unknown, is what you need. And into the future, the things that are unknown, uncontrolled, and yet to come, have also been set out by a very loving, intentional Father who determined that it is what’s best for you, even if the outcome is far from your initial hopes/expectations. And the best part is, what’s asked of us in that process is just to seek and love Him along the way (Matthew 6:33)! We aren’t meant to provide for ourselves, but luckily for us, we have a God who wants to provide for us and invites us to trust Him in that process.
Over the past year or so, this idea has been so prevalent in my walk with Jesus and, as someone who enjoys the feeling of having things under control, has tested me in ways I never have been before. This idea is WAY easier to say than it is to live out, trust me, I’m aware. This way of understanding our relationship with God requires an amount of trust that we as people would almost never reserve for things of the world. However, when this knowledge relocates from its space in the mind to the heart, where it dictates your attitude and outlook, there is peace. We are promised by God that He is working all things out for our good and His glory, we can build that trust by acknowledging it daily.
Take some time today to read Matthew 6:25-34. Listen to Passion’s The Lord Will Provide. Let Jesus’ assurance to you that God is providing and will continue to provide fall freshly on your heart. No matter what season of life you are in right now or what that “bread” looks like in your life, my prayer for you is that you will remember:
Your Father knows your needs, He provides for creatures of creation that are far less prized to Him than you, and He will do the same for you.
Jake Lawlor is a fourth-year student at the University of Georgia. He is studying Religion with two minor studies in Communications and Leadership and Service hoping to work in ministry as a pastor. He is a third-year intern who has served in kids and is currently in student ministry. He loves all things sports, fishing, and spending time in community.
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