Fear not, little flock… These words of Jesus carry such comfort. Listen to them with your heart and imagine yourself leaning into Jesus, your friend, as He embraces you with a gentle shake that causes your insecurities and fears to fall away.
Feeling the weight of anxiety now gone, hear these comforting words again with your spirit and hold them in your heart.
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom When the world tells us that we have to care for ourselves, Jesus reminds us that we are cared for by God. When the world tells us that we have to protect ourselves, Jesus reminds us that we're His little flock and we're continually watched over. When the world tells us that we must reach in our strength for what we need, Jesus reminds us to follow Him because He's already provided for all of our needs. Just because we ourselves can't anticipate all of our future needs doesn’t mean that God Himself is not already fully aware of them. At times we might relate to God as if He too is surprised at our current situation and wondering how He is going to come up with the provision for an unexpected need or provide a solution for a problem we never saw coming. The truth is, whether its 3 minutes from now or 30 years from now, Jesus knows what we need before we need it and He's already doing something about it. When I worked on large engineering and construction projects, the first thing the company would do before starting any new project would be to perform feasibility studies and estimates. The purpose of these studies was to inform the company of the long-term costs of the project so that they could then allocate in advance the resources needed to install and support the project over it's lifespan. In the same way, God is the Engineer of engineers and before He installed each of us on the planet He counted the cost and allocated every provision we would need for the length of our days. So go ahead and tell yourself the good news, "God’s knows my Total Operating Cost!"
Our Heavenly Father is pleased to anticipate your physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs and to provide in advance all that you require to enjoy an abundant life on earth and to fulfill your purpose in His kingdom. In fact, the Bible tells us that the ultimate provision for our greatest need was made before a single person was ever put on the planet. Before the world was founded, Christ was set apart as a sacrifice for the sins of men to provide for men's need of forgiveness and to restore our relationship to God. (Rev 13:8). If then, God has made provision for our most important need beforehand, how much more will He also provide all things in and through Christ during the length of our stay here on earth. We each have the choice to approach our daily needs in one of two ways: We can question if and when God might find the means to meet our needs (meanwhile trying to figure out how to care for ourselves) or… we can decide that God cares for us as we thank Him for our need and learn how and where to discover His rich provisions.
I can share with you my experience - that faith in the goodness of God has allowed me to begin to worry less about our needs and recognize them more often as invitations to experience the goodness of God again and again throughout my life. As a result, I no longer live as a lost sheep without a shepherd; rather, as one among His little flock, dearly beloved by Our Good and Faithful Shepherd Who watches carefully over each one of us.
Have you thought about what needs you have today and how you are relating to God with them?
Listen again to the Comforter speaking to each of us today, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32)