The Backup Bowl
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NIV)
Be prepared! That was my motto. Seldom did I ever enter a classroom without a lesson plan and a backup plan ready to go. I guess that is sort of like playing the what-if game which comes from a lack of trust that God will provide. We know He does, and yet…. Diane Stark (All God’s Creatures) sums this up with a unique example and happy-ending.
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I heard the clanging of our dogs’ metal bowl hitting the baseboard, startling me. I’d been sitting at the table, looking over our bank statement, which was full of debts to doctor’s offices because of my husband’s recent medical issues. Piper, our Pomeranian/poodle mix, pushed the dish into the wall with her paw and then looked at me hopefully. It’s empty, Mom, she seemed to say. I shook my head and got up to fill it, despite the futility of doing so.
Filling the bowl was futile because neither Piper nor our terrier mix, Peyton, would eat out of that dish. Instead, they shared the smaller dog bowl, politely waiting their turn to eat, even when both bowls were full.
Even though they wouldn’t use the second bowl, Piper always let us know when it was empty. If no one came immediately, she would nudge it around the floor with her paw or her nose until someone filled it. But the moment we did, she lost interest and wanted nothing to do with the food it contained.
Our family called it the backup bowl, joking that Piper just felt better knowing that the extra food was there. Like there was a tiny part of her that didn’t trust us to keep the first dish full and needed a backup plan.
As I added up last month’s medical bills, I wished for a backup bowl of money. Lord, I’m trying to trust You with this, but we don’t have the extra cash. I hated to admit it, but there was a tiny part of that struggled to trust God to take care of our family’s finances.
Needing a break, I took the dogs for a walk and picked up our mail. In it was a check we hadn’t been expecting, and the amount would make a sizable dent in the medical bills. Trusting God to provide for our needs is always the right decision. No backup bowl needed.
Loving Lord, thank You for proving over and over that You will meet our needs. AMEN.