Isn't it amazing that with billions of people in the world, each one (even 'identical' twins) is different! Some years ago I visited my brother in Canada. While staying there I found a baker's shop in a small village nearby which had a notice on the door that said, “We sell 136 different types of bread” (all with different names!). I remember thinking there must be a story there, because I had also found that there were only 135 people resident in the village! So there was a different type of bread for each person; a type to suit every taste.
The Tanakh (Old Testament) reflects this appreciation of the uniqueness of each person – it is full of individual names. Try reading some of 1 Chronicles - there are 16 chapters almost full of Hebrew names, a clear expression of the significance of each individual person to the God who controls and upholds all things.
They were not perfect, but to our impartial Lord, they were all His children; each one was special, loved, of great worth and value, and cared for in a way that could meet every need (in the case above, even for their taste in bread! Though of course, we are not to live by bread alone - Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4 – repeated for importance!).
God's provision leaves none of His children behind
God provides what we need (not what we want), even in hard situations, because He wants to take care of us. He made us and wants to bless and mature us for the work to which He has called us. For each one of us there are special gifts available, suited exactly for our needs as individuals.
Depending on our upbringing, we know that some are quick developers and some are slower to reach maturity, and each have different natural gifts. When He gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the upper room at Pentecost, the tongues like fire came to rest on each of them (Acts 2:3). Every one received what they needed for the work to which they were called. None was left out.
By way of another example, when God calls His covenant people back to their land, He calls them all: “I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind” (Ezek 39:28, emphasis added).
God’s provision is a model for our response
But this works two ways: Paul encouraged all believers in the early church at Philippi to develop certain qualities which govern their lives - unity, love, fellowship, tenderness, compassion and humility: “Each (one) of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others – the attitude of Christ Jesus...taking the very nature of a servant” (Phil 2:1-5, emphasis added). Good advice for us too.
God treats each of us as individuals, His creation, and since He knows and cares for each one of us intimately, He knows what we each need. In relationship with Him He will provide these needs daily. Yes, Jesus is radically different from us, and we are different from each other (we each need different types of daily bread); but the point is that He knows these differences and is still more than able to provide.
With the attitudes of unity, humility and love for our Father and for others that Jesus showed us, we can by His Spirit echo David's words in Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Just as sheep feel no anxiety because they know that their shepherd sees to their every need, we can express our complete contentment in the knowledge that God knows all our needs. The more we are dependent upon Him (Yehovah Yireh – the One who sees the need and provides for it) the more we will each know His total provision, His daily love and the food of His Word – our daily bread.
Author: Greg Stevenson
