Hope for Japan

We are privileged to lead a bi-lingual small group composed of a dozen people; half being Japanese. We are taking the group through the book, “The Good and Beautiful God,” by James Bryan Smith. It combines a fresh look at God’s attributes with weekly corresponding spiritual disciplines. Recently we covered a chapter on God being trustworthy. Smith gave a new perspective on this aspect of God by delving into the Lord’s Prayer. 

He broke it down to show how God is: Present (“art in Heaven”), Pure (“Hallowed by thy name”), Powerful “your kingdom come”), Provides (“give us this day our daily bread”), Pardons (“forgive us our trespasses”), and Protects (“Deliver us from the evil one”). 

As we led the discussion, we asked each person to reflect on which word they most or least resonate with when they think about their relationship with God. It was interesting to hear somebody share how God as a provider is difficult for them. 

For us, this was the word that jumped out to us. We have again and again experienced God’s provision. We laugh about not having a place to live when we returned to Boston last summer, only to have God give us a brand new resort-like apartment with a swimming pool at a 40% discount. Though our giving dipped a little in the summer, several churches caught up on their giving in September. We received double our normal amount, which helped balance everything out. Again, we see how grateful we are to regularly experience God’s provision in our lives. While our salary is nothing to envy, we have never gone without having food for our family or had anxiety about over drafting our bank account. God’s provision has not always been on our timing or at the amount that we desire, but He has shown Himself to be completely trustworthy in our lives. 

Thank you to so many of you who display such generosity and love towards us. We are able to thank God because of your partnership in our ministry. We hope your generosity will also lead to stories of God providing for you and showing Himself to be trustworthy, not just with your finances but all aspects of your life.