Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Make a New Normal

When GOD doesn’t provide

If you say the phrase “God will provide” in the Downs house, you’ll likely get your mouth taped shut.  Not by me, but by my wife: she’s the pragmatist.  “God doesn’t pay the electric bill!” she’ll retort.

Since I was let go, we’ve been facing this very issue; trusting in GOD while trying to understand where we’re going.  And it isn’t always easy.

One of my wife’s friends from high school was facing a similar predicament.  His wife lost her job and he was getting all sorts of Facebook reminders of GOD’s providence and that GOD will take care of them.  Rose wasn’t sure how to give him that comfort without saying something she didn’t actually believe.  Not in that way, anyway.

This came up just yesterday when I saw a new friend’s post in which he was describing his own struggles with providence and faith.  You should read it.  Like him, I have been dealing with this stuff for several years.  Twice I’ve been an assistant facing the short end of a long recession.  In both cases, there was an intentional move toward what people in church-land call the “faith budget”.  This means that we run a small deficit anticipating future growth.  For many, this is the essential mark of faith: that we trust that GOD will keep up the other end of the bargain.

Only GOD never made that bargain.

We assume that GOD will take care of us, because scripture encourages us to feel cared for, but it never says that a job will magically appear or that new members will spontaneously arrive out of thin air.  We’re actually promised something completely different.

The most illustrative moment in Scripture of GOD’s personal interaction with humans to provide safety and security comes in the Exodus narrative.  The Exodus, of course, is not only the definitive moment for Judaism, but the opening of an incredible arc of faith that informs all of the desert traditions.  I’d like to zero in on one spot right after the Exodus itself (Chapters 16-18) and the people are newly liberated and stuck in the desert. This incredibly directive deity that liberated the people and sent them out into the wilderness suddenly goes quiet.  The people have no food or water, and eventually become disheartened because the only thing they find to provide for themselves is a disgusting watering hole.  They get Moses to ask GOD to provide clean water to drink.  GOD does.  A little later, they complain about food.  GOD gives them enough.  Then they complain about not having water and get it.  GOD does provide: the same thing every day and just enough: no more or less.

What is essential about this story is that GOD provides, not for their livelihood, but for their survival.  They are in a desert with nothing around them, no one with desert skills, and no one to provide for them except GOD.  As the popular book reminds us, GOD doesn’t give them a double-wide.  Or a job, or abundance.

Today’s gospel in the lectionary from Matthew (14:13-21, the feeding of the five thousand) has a similar revelation.  A big crowd has been following Jesus; after a long day, the disciples realize they’re probably getting hungry, so they ask Jesus to send them home so they can eat, but Jesus says something pretty awesome:

“They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

Hear that: You give it to them; you feed them.  Jesus tells the disciples to do it.  So they find a little bit of food and they disperse it and everybody is fed.

We focus only on the miraculous and miss the part that is about our role in making the miracle happen.  Yes, Jesus helped, but all of the emphasis in the passage is on the disciples who were doing the finding and dispersing and cleaning and redistributing.

The problem with how communities understand GOD’s providence (re. job security and  faith budgets) is that we think the important task is the trust in GOD and not in what comes out of that trust.  As long as there are people in our worship community with jobs, we shouldn’t worry about ours, because we care for one another.  When the church invests money in growth, are they also investing time and personal effort?  Are they getting out and banging on doors and making newcomers feel welcome because GOD doesn’t provide a job or new money into the budget.  GOD provides opportunity.

What opportunities has GOD provided you?

18 responses

  1. Christopher Rayment Avatar
    Christopher Rayment

    I agree. This is the problem that we face today in our country. I believe if the church was doing what it was supposed to be doing…caring for your neighbor instead of yourself, I believe we wouldn’t have to rely on the government for anything. And I still don’t of course, but I can understand when the people can’t see God how easily they can rely and lean on the government, which is seen.

    Too bad the Bible is clear that “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-19

    Thanks for the post!

    Reply
    1. Drew Downs Avatar
      Drew Downs

      Thanks, Chris!

      Our social fabric is dependent on mutual relationship–how threads fit together–and I can’t help but believe that we are meant to be in this together. What is the point of Christian community if we aren’t serving one another, let alone pitching in when our neighbor is hurting!

      Reply
  2. Jason Dillingham Avatar
    Jason Dillingham

    I very much appreciate your pointing toward the Israelites in the desert. I think we often forget the details of how God provided for their survival and unfortunately talk ourselves into believing that means he’s going to provide for all of our wants. Creation exists for us to be drawn into the divine life, not for us to indulge our every desire. God is moving us toward him. Quite often having our desires fulfilled actually pulls us away from him. I’ve had to learn first hand through an extended period of significant personal loss that, all too often, we need to be pressed squarely up against our needs before we even bother to seek him out.

    We’re too prone toward believing “I got this” as we strut down the boulevards of life, content in our own abilities to do and to provide for ourselves. The world around us; the culture we create for ourselves, only encourages that perspective. We’re taught to hide our weaknesses and failings; to cover them up and feign strengths and aptitudes which are not ours, in order to save face with our friends, coworkers and even family. What we miss then is that our weaknesses, our lack, our needs are the very places where God seeks to pour grace and love into our lives. They are the gateways by which he draws us into his presence.

    Reply
    1. Drew Downs Avatar
      Drew Downs

      Hi Jason,
      Thanks for your thoughtful response! That is the temptation, isn’t it? To blame GOD when things go bad and take the credit when they seem in our favor, in neither case truly trusting.

      Reply
  3. Allen Avatar
    Allen

    I’ve been praying to God for 18 years and “provision” from a “Father” has been nothing but disaster and major lack. I’ve tithed for years and stopped about 6 years ago. When it comes to money and material things (not in excess) God doesn’t care. It’s just plain baffling. Many in church have so much, homes, fat income, nice cars and cushy jobs. But that isn’t God, they are only more fortunate, with some hard work and some luck.

    I’ve noticed, that’s one of the top prayers “God” doesn’t answer, petitions for provision while in desperate need. It just seems like God because others in church are sensitive to your need and become that supposed answer. The other is supernatural miracles. Those two things are promises in the Bible, which are fulfilled in some, and others are not. Jesus promises that we will do greater things than him. Really? I tried for 18 years and nothing. I’ve been to Bethel church in Redding, CA for years, and love it there! But, I’ve never seen one miracle, I’ve only heard of them…

    Provision is a happy thought that keeps you working away until you’ve had some better luck, which might come along. When it doesn’t there is always some explanation that “God is trying to teach you something.” What’s really going on is what I mentioned before, it’s not God. I’ve never seen a one miracle in all the pathetic amount of wasted time I spent in church serving others needs, not because I’m a cynic, but I’m the very individual who needed one in my body. I started off open-hearted and trusting for years on end, but God never followed through. That’s okay, because now I know, he either A) doesn’t exist, and religion is opium for the masses, or B) God exists but he isn’t who he says he is according to the Bible.

    Of course I could be misunderstanding the scripture, but I’ve been reading it, praying over it for a long time…and well, I’ve discovered it’s just something people do to make themselves feel better, almost like a child who has an imaginary play friend. Especially in the adult mind, God becomes even more real and you can make connections that is supposedly “God.” I’ve received so many prophetic words, not one of them has come true. The only thing that came was pain and suffering for years on end, which isn’t logical. Would any one of you make your child suffer for years on end until they died or lost faith? No you wouldn’t. I’ve always argued that I love my own dogs more than God loves me. Now that I’m angry and have no faith, I’ve noticed that in no way is God different to me than when I loved him and others and had so much faith. Point is, He didn’t respond.

    There is only one person that can provide for you, and that’s you because God is on vacation in heaven, answering the prayers of the more fortunate.

    Reply
    1. Drew Downs Avatar
      Drew Downs

      Hi Allen and thanks for the comment. I understand the frustration. You no doubt read my own frustration in this post. I am reminded of something Pete Rollins articulates about faith (and our very relationship with GOD ) which is the idea of the second sentence. What he means is when we say “trust GOD.” we do so with a silent second sentence “But lock your doors.” Or “But go to the hospital.” GOD doesn’t teat our belief or expect us not to help each other or seek help when we need it. Much the opposite, I trust. We are supposed to be, as Paul describes, the hands of The body of Christ. Trust in GOD, therefore isn’t dependent on direct divine action, but is always dependent on our action with GOD.

      Reply
      1. allen Avatar
        allen

        Thank you for the nice answer, and it does make sense what you are saying…i.e. look in your environment for opportunities God has provided, I’ll keep looking and hoping that he really is their, loving and providing in these ways. In my past christian communities I always saw others supposedly being taken care of by God, whether provision, finances, healings, or whatever. Therefore, I always had a large expectation in my own life whenever I prayed or sought God’s answers and provision, because what appeared to be going on in others lives I was in fellowship with. I didn’t know throughout my 20’s or even my early 30’s that those people in church who received “God’s provision” were really examples of a more fortunate class. I.e. Those in church, had whole families (as compared to broken families), resources, jobs and connections to fall back on during times of need.

        Being a first generation believer, I never had any of those things. When I was young some families in church had me over for dinner quite often and where nice, even one time, a family lent me $60, which I paid back. But when I started struggling in the faith, or had desparate needs, or needed a good job, it was always those who had blood ties in families who got there needs met. They always encouraged me, “God will provide” and told me stories of Job, and for a long time I fooled myself with this silly story without really examining Jobs story and contrasting it with my life…I needed to have hope instead of facing hard questions no can answer. When I realized friends my age suffered in church, i.e. major debt, unfortunate circumstances, sin, etc. They always came out of it. I had that kind of faith too, and hoped during my struggles God would come through. I tried everything, but God never pulled me out of anything. I suffered, and suffered and waiting and nothing, coming out worse than when I entered into the “trial.”

        Years later, I came to the conclusion that my friends, who came from generations of strong and established christian families, had all their needs met from their families, not God, and maybe some luck too. When disaster struck it was mom and dad that came to the rescue. I always imagined God would be my father too, since I didn’t have parents to help, and those families around me encouraged this too. The problem is, I wasn’t a fortunate one, those in a particular class system. Reality is, I struggled for years because of lack of resources, not God. None of the church members ever helped me like they help their kin, though I knew them for over a decade and they treated me as their own. I never understood this and frankly, no one is obligated to do as such. But the lies they filled my head with, and all of the supposed examples in church of peoples needs being met by “God” was and is purely because of a particular class system, and nothing to do with God. Even when I couldn’t seem to get out of problems easily like everyone else, these people encouraged me with more lies like “God will come through, see what he’s done for others in the church? He’s not partial, just look at the life of Job, he struggled and God blessed him in the end! [Tee-hee!]” The story of Job to me is the epitome of absolute discouragement.

        Job had it all, great relationship with God, families and even riches to top it off. Then he was tested…awww, and got sick and lost it all. Oh, but no worries, he got it all back. The end, God is good. Crap. People told me to read that story and that’s what God had for me…the ironic thing is, I never had family, a good relationship with God and well below the federal poverty line. The one family member I had, died of cancer, my mother, who believed God would heal her, but she died terribly. That’s just one incident that I justified and overlooked for years, I’ve had scores of “trials” and “testings” and “wilderness” experiences, enduring, waiting for the promise land and God’s deliverance. And I wasn’t some out of touch christian who only expected miracles either, I sought answers through hard work as well. Well, God never came through, like he did for Job. I started out with less than Job, and when I came out of my trial, I was worse off, unlike Job.

        In the end, I was worse off with God then when i started out, death, injustices, sickness, fair weathered christian families and friends…and not just one occasion, every time without fail. Now I see clearly, it was a huge mistake to waste so many years thinking God or his members would be anything of a community to me and help fill that class need, resources, and love. The reality is, I have to do this on my own, rise to the top. Now, I’m in college, so that I can get the jobs I desire, not rely on connections in church which others take advantage of. Now I date unbelievers, because women in church natural instincts are no different in their heart of hearts than those on the outside…they still cheat, lie and commit adultery. Overall, the point is, God isn’t involved in church, it’s just a community of people helping each other out, the stronger families see to it that their needs are met first, and encourage the weak and less fortunate by telling them pacifying stories and sending them on their way.

        God could be dead and it wouldn’t make one difference to many churches because that’s exactly what they are experiencing, the benefit of close community and/or club, not God’s provision. They have a form of godliness, but where is the power. I remember seeing other’s like me, come to church in tore up clothes, needy and how their prayers were so devoted, because they needed a God desperately, and those around them, well off families, insulated against suffering, would supposedly be examples of God’s provision and goodness…all along those in a lower class, strived to be like them, but it never happened, eventually, they became discouraged and fell away, while these nice families preached about how some fall away in reference to the weak that plain and simple didn’t get their needs met; it had nothing to do with predestination. Now I understand what it takes to break free of a particular class, and it isn’t God. In fact, God’s promises hindered me into thinking he would help, when in reality, the only person that could help me was me alone and not a being called God, or a book called the Bible, with nice words, or families who smiled and said nice things.

        I wasted much of my life searching, waiting, exploring the faith and looking for His provision in family, a wife, a job, everything. Now I see that those less fortunate fall through the cracks easily and no one ever really notices…but people notice when big well to do popular christian families do well, everyone praises God! God is good! No he isn’t, those families are just plain strong, survival of the fittest. I realize now, it’s survival of the fittest, and there is no cosmic loving Father, who cares for the insignificant details of those who just don’t have the means to be strong for whatever reasons. You’ve got to make it happen all on your own, and maybe you’ll get some luck along the way. God is just something they attribute it too because it makes them feel like someone is really caring for them out their, when really he’s not, and that’s really terrifying to them.

        I really hope that God is real, and heaven is too, but I just can’t keep my eyes closed to what’s going on around me. Maybe someday, I get some type of revelation and take it to the next level. But the point is, I’ve done everything I can, and nothing ever changes, I see the same regurgitated answers, and cookie cutter christianity that fits the bill for those that really don’t need him that much, i.e. successful individuals, and then others who are just plain scared in life and need something to believe in. But until then, I’ll always ask the hard questions.

        By the way, when you referenced Pete Rollins, can you give me a link so I can read what specifically he was talking about? Thank you Mr. Downs, hope I’m not a jerk by writing all this, I’m just a very lost person who use to believe in a god who cared. Now I don’t, but I want to, I just can’t reconcile the doubts in front of my face with what the bible says.

        Respectfully,

        Allen

        Reply
        1. Drew Downs Avatar
          Drew Downs

          Allen, you aren’t a jerk. And clearly the church has failed you in much the way that it has failed many people.

          Rather than try to defend it (because it certainly doesn’t need me to), I’d like to remind you of a story. It’s one of my favorites. Jesus and His disciples are going about their business and they come to the outskirts of a city. A women, poor and destitute, comes to Jesus looking for him to raise her son from the dead. He does. But the power, for me, in this story isn’t that Jesus raised this boy from the dead or that she had “enough faith” to come to Him. It is what Jesus says. He condemns the system that would throw a woman out into the street because her husband died and her son died.

          The take away from it is this: the Jewish society at the time actually gave preference to the poor and the widowed. They tried to protect them. Not how we would, btw, but they tried. The problem is that if the women didn’t fit the system, they could fall through the cracks. This seems to be what Jesus is condemning: that anyone would fall through the cracks.

          The church has turned out an awful lot like that old system, which does what it believes is its best to help those that need help. Unfortunately, Jesus has a different priority. He intends for us to protect all of us. That we do this for one another. This has been a serious struggle for the church to live into. I’m sure you will find a piece of that somewhere, if you can keep looking! I know I am always looking for it.

          And here’s a link to that idea I mentioned: http://homebrewedchristianity.com/2012/07/31/that-damned-second-sentence/

          Peace,
          Drew

          Reply
          1. allen Avatar
            allen

            Hello,

            I read Luke 7:11-17 But I’m not seeing where Jesus condemns anyone? Can you reference the scripture.

            Thanks

          2. Drew Downs Avatar
            Drew Downs

            It is baked into the interaction. Jesus raises, I think, just this boy and Lazarus from the dead. This isn’t a common theme with Jesus. And the raising of the son is not simply about a grieving mother, because this is certainly not the only grieving mother Jesus has met. As Scott Hoezee writes here: http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/viewArticle.php?aID=409, Jesus is into restoring community. I will admit to a little editorializing, having misremembered the action as a statement. Each of these interactions with Jesus are not eye-witness accounts of randomness, but pointed revelations of His character and focus. In this case, the focus is on a women who is left with nothing, not because of anything she has done or because of bad luck, but because the system makes her property of 1) her father, 2) then her husband, 3) then her son. And with all of the men dead, she is without a keeper. I am certain this has much more to do with being a response to the situation than it is merely a random healing of a random kid.

    2. JASON Avatar
      JASON

      Hi Mr. Allen, 1. I agree 100%. 2. Thanks for bein’ genuine, honest and real. Go surfing if you can, it’s so great!

      Reply
  4. Kenneth Gray Avatar
    Kenneth Gray

    Hello,

    I’ve been waiting for God to provide for over 44+ years. 44+ years of poverty. Now that in and of itself shows that God doesn’t provide enough. But God doesn’t provide on many different levels. Yes there is the financial neglect on God’s part. I can’t afford to go to church let alone pay tithes and offerings. How is that enough? Then there are things like meaning or purpose. God has never given meaning or purpose to my life. My hopes and dreams shattered into billions of tiny pieces. The biggest thing that God doesn’t provide is Himself. I have never experienced anything from/of God in my life. All I get are silence, absence, broken promises, and unanswered prayers. No love, no comfort, no peace, no hope, no joy, no contentment, etc. God provides nothing. These long decades of nothing have destroyed my trust in God. How can you continue to trust someone that does nothing, that has proven to be unreliable? Thanks.

    God bless you through the Holy Spirit, in Jesus holy name, Amen.

    Reply
    1. Drew Downs Avatar
      Drew Downs

      Great question, Kenneth! How can you continue to trust? I don’t know, actually. But I do know what has helped me through a lot of my own suffering, internal conflict, and deep questioning is to honor the context of your frustration and yet not end there. One of the images that I’m wrestling with for this feeling of struggle and wondering where God is in all of it is this: have you ever been super upset and had someone sit with you and it didn’t help? For me, that’s a big fat yes. They sit with me and I either a) want them to go away or b) hardly even know they are there. In neither case do I have my suffering lifted. In fact, in my suffering, I can desire to be alone and NOT have anyone help me.

      Part of changing our vision of God from a genie who grants wishes does involve changing our expectations about activity, sense of presence, and even how we expect to notice God in our lives. When I believe everything sucks, all the traffic lights I arrive at are red. When things are great, they’re all green. I don’t think traffic patterns are any different, whatsoever. Just what I notice. It doesn’t mean things are difficult or the suffering isn’t real. Just that our perspective on reality can effect how we respond to it.

      Blessing and peace to you!

      Reply
  5. Kenneth Gray Avatar
    Kenneth Gray

    Hello Drew,

    I don’t think of God as a genie that grants wishes. I think of God as an absentee. The Bible is full of things that God promised. Things that God has failed to deliver. Where is the “peace”, the “joy”, the “contentment”, the “hope”, the “purpose”, etc. As you can read(see) that I didn’t list physical things. God doesn’t supply those either. God promised to never leave or forsake us. Then why is He not here? Never receiving anything from God sure feels like being forsaken. Silence, absence, broken promises, and unanswered prayers proves that God is not here for me.

    God bless you through the Holy Spirit, in Jesus holy name, Amen.

    Reply
  6. Philip Avatar
    Philip

    Hello,

    As most people here, I really want to believe that God is who he says he is in the Bible, but I’ve been struggling to reconcile the teaching of Matthew 6:26 with reality.

    The notion that God provides to people as he does to birds is observably false. Birds die from starvation everyday as do humans.

    In fact, As Americans or wherever else your from, it seems unfair for us to say that God provides considering that the story completely flips when you look at any other place in the world beside the West, and any other time in history. Most people for the majority of history were impoverished and starved to death.

    Reply
    1. Drew Downs Avatar
      Drew Downs

      The point of the original piece was to say that we have a different expectation of what “provide” implies, I think, than what Jesus suggests. I have never expected God to provide for my material needs. But here is one thing I would name is to continue to wrestle with how the *different* aspects of God depicted in different parts of scripture—that these all tell different kinds of stories to us.

      Your reference to Matthew 6:26 is one place—but just eight verses later, he says:
      “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
      I don’t think the suggestion is problem-solving or poverty-elimination, but of care and support, which, as I’ve named frequently above, happens to also be the role of the people.

      This also is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which itself is one of the most difficult and affirming parts of the gospels. They begin, after all, with the Beatitudes, which are a call, first, to empathy, and ultimately, to movement to protect and preserve the health and well-being of our neighbors—even total strangers. This provides an impetus to see what it is we, in our abundance, are called to participate in: https://drewdowns.net/2023/01/26/the-beatitudes-epiphany-4a/

      Reply
      1. Philip Avatar
        Philip

        I appreciate your timely reply. For the past few days, my soul has been conflicted over what I believe and what I see to be true. Most Christians ignore this and say “have faith” and certainly that’s true, however faith and critical analysis are not mutually exclusive.

        I like how you convince us not to challenge the Bible but rather our interpretation of the Bible. I think part of the problem is Christians everywhere (especially on the internet) love to say “God provides” or “wait on God” or “Ask and you shall receive” and not necessarily in a prosperity gospel way but in a way to provide comfort when (for lack of a better term) “shit hits the fan”. Yes God provides but in an indirect manner rather than directly and that’s what we should focus on is our ability to work with God kind of like Adam and Eve in the Bible — is that correct?

        Like you illustrated with the traffic light example, there’s an inherent bias when people who live in abundance say that God provides, but the provision for them and lack of thereof for people in poverty may not necessarily be a result of God’s divine activity but rather circumstances/luck of living in a fallen world kinda like Job.

        Therefore God’s true provision over the world is revealed when we “ seek righteousness” and show generosity towards one another.

        Again, I really hope I’m getting all of this right because I’ve been spiritually struggling the last few days.

        Thank you

        Reply
        1. Drew Downs Avatar
          Drew Downs

          Hi Philip!

          You caught me at a time when I could see it, which is great! And then I saw this and thought I’d jump back on for a second. I am not usually this prompt!

          I love how you’ve described how faith works. I think you’re on the right track! And yes, the certainty of folks on the internet to either prescribe providence to all things or to no things leaves many of us caught thinking that if these are the only two options, then maybe I don’t want either. But thankfully they aren’t.

          One of the things on my heart the last week or two has been the depth of faithfulness that is required cannot be measured by our willingness to test God or to expect God to change things—but that our own sense of the world as a set of problems that need fixing—and therefore solved by us and fixed by us—is a kind of faithlessness. That what we’re called to is not do nothing and pretend God will solve it OR do all the things and assume God isn’t part of it. That neither expresses faithfulness. Sometimes it really is just about being faithful in a time of struggle and being like, “I’m giving you what I got!” I don’t know if this speaks to your moment exactly, but it is something I’m working through myself, precisely because I often put myself into a position of “I must save the church!” and then when I can’t single-handedly (hence, without God) “save” the church, I feel as if I have failed. How ridiculous is that? And most of the time, I’ll pretend that’s not what I believe, but when I’m being honest, it is how I behave. So I’ve decided to turn more toward believing that God and I are working on a thing here, and we’ll see what happens!

          Grace and Peace,
          Drew

          Reply

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