To Order and Provide

As I continue to walk in light of a very difficult time I am playing hymns almost continuously throughout my day.  One of my favorites is "Be Still, My Soul".  There's a line that goes: "Leave to thy God to order and provide."  I have taken those words to heart. Throughout my day I am asking Him to order and provide moment by moment. It is amazing to me how much He will do if we but let Him. I have been so self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-focused for so long it's a new but wondrous concept to me.  The next line in the hymn is "In every change he faithful will remain."  When I think about all He does in my past, I am less anxious about my future and even my present.  He will be faithful as my circumstances vary and I pass through various stages of life.

The second stanza starts: "Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake to guide the future as He has the past."  Again I dwell on this truth rather than the lies I so often have told myself.  Another concept brought out in many hymns is that of Jesus being our Friend. He calls Himself our friend in the Scripture but in all honesty I rarely see Him as my friend. It's helped to bring me some joy to think of the Savior as my Redeemer and my Friend.  And as the hymn states He is "thy best, they heavenly, Friend."  What more do we need.  I would challenge all of us to be cognizant of God ordering and providing for us through the day.  Not in some distant or removed sense but that "He is a very present help in times of trouble".  We can be still and know that He is God.