Living In The Light

May 2, Loaded With His Benefits

Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
—Psalms 40:5 LL 132.1

If people love and obey God, and do their part, God will provide for all their wants. Although your living may have to be obtained by the sweat of your brow, you are not to distrust God; for in the great plan of His providence, He will supply your need from day to day. This lesson of Christ’s is a rebuke to the anxious thoughts, the perplexities and doubts, of the faithless heart. No person can add one cubit to his stature, no matter how solicitous he may be to do so. . . . Do your duty, and trust in God; for He knows of what things you have need. LL 132.2

The power of God is manifested in the beating of the heart, in the action of the lungs, and in the living currents that circulate through the thousand different channels of the body. We are indebted to Him for every moment of existence, and for all the comforts of life. The powers and abilities that elevate human beings above the lower creation, are the endowment of the Creator. He loads us with His benefits. We are indebted to Him for the food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes, we wear, the air we breathe. Without His special providence, the air would be filled with pestilence and poison. He is a bountiful benefactor and preserver. The sun which shines upon the earth, and glorifies all nature, the weird, solemn radiance of the moon, the glories of the firmament, spangled with brilliant stars, the showers that refresh the land, and cause vegetation to flourish, the precious things of nature in all their varied richness, the lofty trees, the shrubs and plants, the waving grain, the blue sky, the green earth, the changes of day and night, the renewing seasons, all speak to human beings of their Creator’s love. He has linked us to Himself by all these tokens in heaven and in earth. He watches over us with more tenderness than does a mother over an afflicted child. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” LL 132.3

We are bound to the Lord by the strongest ties, and the manifestation of our Father’s love should call forth the most filial affection and the most ardent gratitude.— Review and Herald, September 18, 1888. LL 132.4

Further Reflection: Do you take for granted the daily gifts of life and health that God bestows upon you? LL 132.5