Using What God Has Provided

Using What God Has Provided

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2:12

Why does God warn the wise men not to return to Herod? Even if Herod had found out, God easily could have protected Jesus from him and the entire world. The reason God did it this way is so we would learn not to test God. We should never look down on what we can conveniently accomplish with the help of what God has created.

Certainly you should believe in God and say, “I will trust God. Everything will turn out all right.” You should trust him as much as if you didn’t want to work and were saying, “I will trust God. What is supposed to grow will grow anyway.” But if this is all you do, what’s the use of all that God has created? According to Genesis 1, God created everything in the world and established how human beings should use and work with all of it. He’s not going to revoke that created order or make a special one just for you.

So in areas where God’s Word gives you no command, you should continue to make use of your strength, your possessions, your friends, and everything else that God has given you. You should remain in the created order God established in Genesis 1, for he didn’t give it to you for nothing. He will not make wine into water or turn stones into bread just for you. Rather, you should accept everything God has provided and use it just as he created it to be used, unless God’s Word tells you to do otherwise.