Have you noticed that most of the time in life, we find that we have just enough resources to make it through the next season? God did it with Israel under Moses’ leadership in the wilderness. Manna was provided for food, but just enough for one day.

Even in the abundance we have in Christ, God wants us dependent on Him for the future. Whether it’s trusting God with a quarter tank of gas left, just enough in the checkbook to make the next payment, or trying to figure out how to fit all our responsibilities into the limited hours and energy we have in a day … Life can be stretching!

Consider the situation Mary and Jospeh found themselves in:

It would have been so easy for Mary and Joseph to be upset and question God’s wisdom in having His special Son born in an animal’s stall? But instead, they took the enough that God provided and continued in faith. And in the next verses we see that the humble, barely-enough provision of this manger was to become the place of angelic worship and the “sanctuary” for the first stinky shepherd worshippers to behold their infant King.

Through the years, amid family demands, financial crises, and ministry challenges, Pam has always encouraged me to, by faith, “do what I can with what I have,” with what God has provided. Mary and Joseph operated in that kind of faith during the first Christmas, and we can still do it amid the challenges we face.

You see, God gets more attention and glory when He fills managers with angels, provides the needed funds at the last minute, or brings restoration, healing, or provision at the eleventh hour. He loves filling cloudy days with heavenly light. Our job? To be faithful and to give thanks for the humble provisions of God, much like Mary did, knowing that He’ll always sustain us from His abundance:

• Are you up against something in a way that is stretching your resources?
• What resources do you have that you can hold before Him with open hands, trusting He’ll multiply it like the loaves and fish in Mark 6?