God will take care of you!

God will take care of you!

Hebrews 13:5-6
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’"

What is the level of your contentment? Let me phrase that another way: Is your thirst for the things of this world greater than your thirst for the things of God? Let me phrase it a third way: Are you ever satisfied with anything?

Back in November of 1953, I was a low-ranking airman in the US Air Force. I had just graduated from Jet Mechanic School in Amarillo, Texas, and had been assigned to Ellsworth AFB, in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Joyce and I had spent a few days leave in Nampa, Idaho, before leaving for Rapid City. My dad had thoughtfully purchased some very special snow tires for our trip. Way back in those long ago days, someone had come up with the idea of putting sawdust in rubber and then recapping the tires with this mixture.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but when “the rubber met the road” so to speak, we were in big trouble. We had traveled less than 100 miles before the first tire gave way. We stopped at a tire store from the same chain and had the tire replaced. This happened twice more in the next 200 miles, and we realized that there were no more of the same company’s stores on our route, so we bought PORTs. That stands for Plain Old Regular Tires!

As we entered the Black Hills of South Dakota, we passed through Keystone, S.D., near Mt. Rushmore. The roads were now snow covered and slick as glass. Our PORT’s were no help in these conditions, and we soon were in a ditch.

We prayed as we clambered out of the car with our parakeet, Dickie. We covered his cage with a blanket and started walking back toward Keystone, about a mile away. We stopped by a house and asked if we could leave Dickie until we returned with help to get our car back on the road.

They graciously agreed and we continued our walk. It was a gorgeous winter night if it were not for our situation. We were graciously received into a home in town and treated with kindness as two 19 year olds who were in a jamb. The incident has remained a pleasant memory across the years as we have considered how God cares for His own.

In our senior year at our Christian High School, we chose a hymn as our class hymn, “God Will Take Care of You.” It was true on that dark and snowy night in South Dakota, and it has been true many other times across the years. It is important for us to remember that truth:

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU
Walter & Civilla Martin ~ 1905

1. Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.

Refrain:
God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

2. Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you.

3. All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you.

4. No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you.

I pray that the words of Hebrews 13:5-6 and this hymn may burn into your heart, so that even in the darkest night, you will be content in the confident assurance that God is true to His Word and that He will, indeed, take care of you.

Pastor Cecil Thompson