Christian Living
Everyone loves pleasant surprises, like receiving a gift of something precious or something much anticipated. I particularly love watching my children’s excitement when they return from boarding school to find a gift on their beds or in their wardrobes. Usually it’s something they didn’t even ask for but that I thought they needed. In this article, I share on how the father sent my needs..
Mathew 6:8 tells us that God knows the things we need even before we ask for them. And if God says He knows the things we need then we can be confident that He’s already made provision for us to have them.
A few months ago, after fleshing out the first 3 points of my article ‘The Road To Financial Sufficiency In Christ‘, I laid on my bed thinking if there was another way God supplies the things we need that I may have missed. After a moment of quiet reflection and meditation, I heard this clearly in my spirit…
“….. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Matthew 6:8 NKJV
……’The Father Sent It‘.
As I thought a bit more on this, Matthew 26:6-12 dropped in my heart….
“And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were Indignant saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus Was Aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.”
Matthew 26:6-10, 12 NKJV
What was happening in the above portion of scripture?
During Jesus’s time and as commonly practiced in Judaism, it was customary to prepare a dead body for burial. This entailed washing and anointing the body with expensive perfumes (nard, myrrh and aloe).
Now it was 6 days to the time of Jesus’s death. He knew it, the disciples really didn’t. Visiting with His disciples at Simon’s house, a lady walks in and suddenly starts pouring oil on His head (John 12:1-8).
How did this woman know to anoint Jesus’s body for burial?
The only way anybody would have known to come anoint Jesus’s body for burial like this woman did, would only be by the leading of the Spirit of God. Because although Jesus had hinted about His death before then, the disciples didn’t fully grasp it and He was surely not looking like someone who would die soon. This woman could only know to do what she did by a divine leading.
The Father Sent Her!
Friends, the Father knows the things you need, and He’s made adequate provision for you to have them. People will locate you just where you are to deliver the Father’s response to your need. Halleluyah!
Are you at a point in your life where you think you need someone, people or a system to prepare/equip you to fulfill a divine assignment? Are you looking for a reliable support system at home, work or you just want to have reliable relationships? Is it time to move to the next level in your career or ministry?
Child of God, whatever it is you need to move up the next rung of the ladder, the Father already sent it. You just need to recognize it…..
Below I share a few thoughts on the Father’s provision towards preparing Jesus for His divine assignment as we see with the anointing at Bethany. My prayer is that we learn something about how to recognize and take advantage of the Father’s provision when it shows up.
1. The Father’s provision was fit for Purpose
Jesus’s gift from the Father fitted into a divine plan. An oil was needed to anoint His body for burial, and it was oil that was delivered.
Can you imagine if instead of oil, the woman brought water or perfume?
God will only send what fits perfectly well into His divine plan/purpose for your life. He will send the EXACT things, persons, gifts, you need to you. The right people, well suited for His designated purpose/plan in your life will locate you…..Custom made- specifically designed to suit your need.
2. The Father’s provision came in the Best Quality and in Overflowing Measures
The oil from the alabaster box was described as ‘very costly’, ‘very expensive’. And we are told that the woman, ‘POURED ‘it (John 12:1-8)…..she generously lavished her oil on Jesus. Halleluyah!
The Father doesn’t give anything in trickles, grudgingly or in a miserly manner. His supply is always in liberal, generous and overflowing measures.
How does anyone lavish a jar of oil worth of a year’s wage on another person just to anoint their body for burial (Mark 14:3-9)? Certainly there must have been cheaper options….
But O’ when the Father sends people to be a blessing to you, they come with a divine instruction, under a divine influence to execute a divine mandate. They’ll follow the Father’s leading and instructions to the latter. They will come with the very best for you. They’ll be selfless- neither counting the cost of their investment nor demanding a personal gain. Halleluyah!
3. Mary delivered on her mandate inspite of her feelings
Question 1: Who was this woman with the alabaster box of anointing oil?
Well John 11:2 identifies her as Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
Now, if you’ve ever tried to study John chapter 11, you cannot but notice the unusual bond Jesus shared with these siblings. Jesus loved them. At one time, He actually acknowledged and appreciated Mary’s preference and priority to listening to His teaching as opposed to Martha’s love for serving tables (Luke 10:38-40). Point here is, there was mutual love between Jesus, Lazarus and his sisters.
Question 2: Do you think Mary knew why she was anointing Jesus?
My thoughts are that she may have had a spiritual inkling.
Question 3: If you had even the slightest knowledge that someone you loved dearly was going to die soon and young, are you likely to volunteer to prepare them for burial?
Let’s just say; It’s complicated ?
Unlike John and the other synoptic gospels, Luke 7:38 records that what Mary wiped off Jesus’s feet were tears, not the anointing oil.
Question 4: Why was Mary crying?
Possibly because of a deep sense of gratitude for all Jesus had done for her and her family in the past? Probably. But really if you perceive that someone you love very much is about to die and there’s nothing you can do to save them, you will weep uncontrollably.
Despite her love for Jesus, Mary got the job done without sentiments (for she loved Jesus so much and wouldn’t really want to lose Him).
The people the Father sends to deliver help to you, will do it without sentiments.
4. Onlookers saw Waste, but Jesus saw a divine Provision
The bible carefully described the disciples’ reaction to Mary’s action as INDIGNANT, that is; they were angry, annoyed and provoked because they perceived the woman’s action as unnecessary and wasteful.
.…why are you wasting this oil/gift? we can put it to better use than you are doing….
Jesus’s DISCIPLES, I mean even Jesus’s close companions, saw WASTE instead of PROVISION and PREPARATION towards the fulfilment of a divine PURPOSE.
You have to be careful how you respond to people’s interpretation of events happening around you. When God sends the things/people you need, it may not always look right or appropriate to onlookers, however it is your understanding of what is happening that matters. Because your understanding will determine your response.
5. In order to recognize the Father’s provision and respond appropriately, you need to be spiritually sensitive.
Can you imagine for a minute the set up at Simon’s house in Matthew 26:6-10…..
The bible tells us what Jesus was doing at the time…. He was RECLINING on a chair. Some translations say SEATED instead of reclining. This gives me a picture of someone who was relaxed and at rest.
Secondly, the bible also says that Jesus ‘BECAME AWARE’ of the disciples’ murmuring about Mary wasting the oil. This tells me that Jesus must have sat some distance away from His disciples or at least that He wasn’t a part of their discussion.
So the picture we see of Jesus here would be of someone who was at rest and seperated from distractions.
Friend, you are unlikely to recognize a divine provision such as happened to Jesus, if you are sucked into the crowd. However when you are seperated, at rest, spiritually alert, you will rightly differentiate the Father’s provision from a waste, a fuss, a distraction and so embrace it wholeheartedly.
Halleluyah!
6. Jesus yielded to the unusual vessel carrying what He needed
Again, can you picture Mary walking into Simon’s house and making straight for Jesus’s body? We are not told she announced her entry or mission, she simply went ahead with her task. And can you see Jesus ‘submitting‘ Himself to be anointed by Mary? He didn’t say ‘who,…. you, ….Mary?’ ?
To get the job done, your cooperation with the vessels God sends to you is important. The people may not be your natural preference, however if they are God’s choice, they’ll get the job done perfectly well.
Dear friend, the Father knows the things/persons you need, and He is committed to sending them.
Watch out though!
Does the ‘provision’ you see fit perfectly into it’s intended purpose? Has it come in the best quality? Is it offered/given freely and generously without grudges or complaints?
Your response to the Father’s provision depends on your spiritual state at the time it arrives.
In order not to miss God’s divine provision, it’s important to be sensitive, spiritually alert and expectant.
The Father will surely send just what you need,…. and it will come just in time too.
Praise The Name of Jesus!
