Providing for Our Needs - Cathy Bryant

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

I stared at our empty checkbook as if staring would somehow make the numbers change. How could God let this happen?

We’d been obedient. We’d tithed for years, and given extra for special offerings and missions. We’d even resigned our teaching positions at a special tug on our hearts to enter the ministry.

And this is what we got in return? An empty bank account?

With a weary sigh, I rose to my feet. At least the bills were paid and we had food in the pantry. But for how long? We’d just received our final paychecks from the school district. There would be no more money coming in.

Looking back now, I am amazed and awestruck at how quickly everything turned around. First, my husband was able to pick up a part-time job at a hardware store in town. Then we received a phone call from a small church asking us to provide the music for an upcoming revival. A love offering would be provided.

That love offering came in at the exact time we would have received our next check from the school had we continued teaching.

Not long after, another church contacted us. They were considering us for a full time position. We met with the search committee from this church on our way to do the first revival. And guess what? The committee, when they learned where we were going, asked us to also lead the music at their fall revival. On the last night of the second revival there was a unanimous decision by the church to call my husband as the music minister.

Can’t you just see God’s fingerprints all over the situation?

The apostle Paul experienced the same grace by the same God. His needs were met, and he knew that God would meet the needs of his gift-giving friends in Philippi.

God hasn’t changed. We serve a God who provides. Jehovah Jireh is His name—the LORD will provide. This God provided a ram for Abraham. This God took a small boy’s lunch and increased it to feed five thousand plus. This God still works miracles.

The next time you wonder how to make that paycheck stretch, take heart. Remember: The LORD will provide.


Cathy Bryant’s first novel, Texas Roads, was chosen as a finalist in the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis competition, and is available at online retailers. Cathy has written several devotions that have been published in books, magazines and online, and was recently named as a core writer for Full Spirit magazine. A Texas gal by birth, Cathy lives in a century-old Texas farmhouse, complete with picket fence, flowers, butterflies, and late summer mosquitoes the size of your fist. Learn more about Cathy at http://www.catbryant.com/ or at http://www.wordvessel.blogspot.com/ You can visit her at http://www.wordvessel.blogspot.com.
Read Cathy's devotions.

Publisher: WordVessel Press
ISBN-13: 978-0984431106

The Battle is the Lord's -- Cathy Bryant

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14 (NIV)


“I can do it by myself,” came the sweet voice of my piano student. With valiant effort, she started the song again, counting out the rhythm. It wasn’t perfectly done, but she was trying her best to do it without me counting for her.

I couldn’t help but ponder the numerous times during the daily struggles of life I’ve told God that I could do it by myself.

For months I had been fighting a battle. I was determined to stand strong in the Lord, to put on His armor, and to meet the battle head on. All good things in and of themselves, but it seemed that every time I went to the battle front, I returned bruised and broken. “Why, God?” I cried out. “What am I doing wrong?”

Then through His Word, the answer came. This wasn’t my battle, and it wasn’t to be my loss or my victory. This was a battle that God would fight for me; it was to be His victory. Only then would I know how powerful and Almighty my God truly is.

Being His child means letting go, moving past ourselves and our personal strength and will. It means that we strive not for independence, but total dependence on Him. How can we learn who He really is if we’re focused on doing it ourselves?

Only when we truly recognize who He is can we learn to trust Him completely to fight our battles for us. It helps me to remember His omnipotence and His prior deliverance. As much as I dislike it, it also means confessing my own weakness and inability. When I try to take over a battle that He has promised to fight for me, I am in effect trying to play God.

My prayerful battle cry is that we will see Him as the One who fights for us, and that we won’t be afraid or discouraged. The challenge is to take our positions, stand firm, and watch as God delivers us. Remember—we do not fight alone. In fact, sometimes our part of the battle is to simply “be still.”


Cathy Bryant lives in a small Texas town with one amazing husband, two spoiled cats, and a garden-full of flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies. Her desire is to turn her God-given abilities and opportunities into an offering back to Him, in order to make Him known. She is currently working on learning more about the craft of writing and is testing her writing wings. You can visit her at http://www.wordvessel.blogspot.com/