I always have gum in my purse. My favorite is peppermint flavored Extra.
I also LOVE coffee and I’m a teacher, so after I finish my coffee I always chew a piece of gum so my students don’t have to deal with my coffee breath first thing in the morning. I gave the last piece I had to a friend on Sunday night and planned on stopping Monday morning on my way to work to buy some more. Well, my morning didn’t go as well as planned and I was running late, so I was unable to stop. Even though I was feeling a bit flustered and disappointed that I wasn’t able to stop, I planned on just asking someone for a mint once I arrived at work. As soon as I got to work I went to the front office to check my box. Usually on Monday mornings I have a small stack of papers in my box that are either for me or that I need to send home with my students that afternoon. This Monday was like any other, so I completely expected to see my normal stack of papers waiting for me.
When I pulled the handle to open the drawer to my box and look inside, the only thing lying there was a single pack of gum.
Peppermint flavored Extra.
No one saw how much that peppermint flavored Extra meant to me that morning, but Father did.
It’s just a simple pack of gum, but it’s my favorite.
Everyone had one in their box as a treat for Teacher Appreciation Week, but it wasn’t just a treat for me. When I held that pack of gum in my hand, I felt Father’s warm kiss of love in the deepest part of my heart. That pack of gum was His sweet whisper to remind me how deeply He cares for me. He was reminding me that I can trust Him. And because I can trust Him to provide me with the small things, like my favorite type of gum when I run out, I can trust His provision in the big things too.
Holy Spirit has been opening my eyes to Father’s hand working in the smallest details of my life. It’s always so easy to see Father’s provision and Him working on our behalf in the big things that are put on display for everyone to see His faithfulness. Like when you get the new job you’ve been praying for, or the perfect house being built that you thought wasn’t a possibility for you, or a swelling belly that’s growing a miracle baby after hearing a diagnosis that it would be impossible.
But just like in this scripture, when we see lilies blooming in the field, what we really see is on the surface– the culmination of His masterpiece and handiwork. But if we look closely, with unveiled eyes, we can see the intricate details. We can see the perfect amount of acidity in the soil that He cultivated to make it fertile, the rain that He brought to water the seed, and just the right amount of sunlight and air to create the beautiful flower growing above the surface. All the lily had to do was be what Father said it was and do what Father designed it to do…live out its identity as a lily by simply receiving all that Father had provided for it.
When I look with unveiled eyes at my daily moments, I have the privilege of noticing the intricate details of Father’s hand cultivating and providing for me. Intimate kisses of His love He leaves only for me to notice. Sometimes it looks like big extravagant blooms, and sometimes it looks like unseen roots growing deeper into His heart.
-Jessi B.