“Give us this day our daily bread.”
Matthew 6:11 (RSV)
Every so often, a home needs repairs. When it rains, it pours, and recently I have a leaky garbage disposal and a dead electrical outlet in my garage. Yesterday, my cat drew my attention to a mouse walking across my outside window sill.
Since I live alone, as soon as I see a problem, that I cannot fix, I think of who to call. I left a message with a plumber and an exterminator, and was about to call the electrician, but suddenly had second thoughts.
I remembered that there is a type of electrical outlet that has a ground-fault circuit-interrupter with a reset switch, which needs to be pressed to reactivate the power of the outlet. I went back into the garage to see if it was a GFCI type of outlet, and it was. I pressed the reset button, and the outlet was activated and now works fine.
The GFCI feature is to prevent electric shock or electrical fires as a safety feature. I impulsively assumed that the outlet needed total replacement, when all it needed was a simple press of a reset button.
How embarrassing it would have been, to have a union electrician come to my home, only to press a button. I’m glad I prayed asking which problem to call about first, and am equally glad that I never called the electrician. I learned about myself, that I have a tendency to make more out of a problem, which is not as complex as it first appears.
When the Israelites in the wilderness were hungry, Moses prayed and God sent them manna, bread from heaven, but they only received a day’s portion at a time. They needed to gather their manna each day, but some of the people (like me) were anxious types who tried to store it for the future, and it spoiled.
God was saying something to all of us through this story. He wants us to live one day at a time, to receive His daily bread for this day and not to worry about tomorrow. Jesus also said “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:34)
How does this relate to my GFCI outlet? I have a tendency to jump from having a dead outlet to calling an electrician. Thankfully, by asking God what to fix first, it helped me to pause on the outlet problem. God knows my impulse to plan ahead, and that can cause unnecessary worry about how to solve a problem. Scripture repeatedly reminds us to cast our cares on Him in the present tense, for today, and not to be anxious about tomorrow.
Jesus taught us through the Lord’s Prayer, to ask His Father for our “daily bread”, not the whole bakery. Our peace comes one day at a time, by depending on Jesus, the bread of heaven.
I have written before about this theme of taking one day at a time, but it’s a lesson that I personally need reminding of from time to time.
It’s as if I need to press my own GFCI reset button, and cast all my worries and concerns on Jesus for the day, and leave the other concerns for tomorrow. We are all wired differently in how we handle problems, but in whatever way we are wired, we were all meant to look to God for our daily bread.
Lord, help us to surrender all our worries and anxiety to you, and to receive our daily bread for today. Reset our faith and trust in you and give us peace, reminding us to live one day at a time. Amen