Provision is the act or process of providing: the fact or state of being prepared beforehand: a measure taken beforehand to deal with a need or contingency.

I can look back on the time when our children were being born. We made provision for them in our home. As they were growing, we would have to make provisions for their different needs at various times. It was an ongoing process. The things they needed as an infant were very different from the things they needed as a toddler.

As they started school there were school supplies and school lunches that needed to be provided. Then came the athletics and activities that they became involved in. Those provisions included uniforms, baseball bats and gloves, basketballs, footballs, cheerleading equipment, prom dresses, and many other things that were needed to participate in all of the activities that the school offered to our children.

As I reflect on those times, I see that there was a pattern developing. As time went by, the need for provision increased but the provision needed earlier did not disappear. The newly needed provision did not replace the former one; it was added on. As parents we stepped up to the challenge to provide everything our children needed and we were glad to do it. There are many of you that can relate to our experience.

Benjamin Franklin, a signer of both America’s Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the founder of the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the leading theorists of the American Revolution wrote: “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – That God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, it is probable that an empire cannot rise without His aid.”

God is our heavenly father and the scripture says in Matthew 7:11: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” I thank God for His provision to us, His children.

These are the truths we look into at the Gathering Place every Sunday morning at 10:30 and Wednesday evening at 7. Come and join in. Once again we will have a water tent at the fair. Stop by and we will give you a bottle of water in Jesus name.