Jesus, of course, consistently refers to God as His Father. He paints a picture of God as a Father in Matthew 7:9-11: “You parents - if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
If you wanted to describe God’s role as Father in one word, which term would you choose? Perhaps a fitting designation is Provider. Just as Jesus describes in Matthew 7, God generously gives good gifts to His children, and He has provided everything necessary for “living a godly life” (2Peter 1:3). Not only has He given life but He also sustains life and meets all our needs.
That does not mean that we do not take initiative and responsibility to provide for our families. We need to trust God and depend on Him, but our work doesn’t stop there. With our relationships, the challenge is to work together and devise the best strategy for providing for your family. Your goal isn’t just to pay the bills but to also create a loving, caring, and nurturing atmosphere that allows your family to grow together and in their walk with Christ. It’s a big task, but one you can accomplish by working together.
Take time to pray…
- Thank God that He is your ultimate Provider, giving you everything you “need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3);
- Ask God to help you and your spouse work together as a team, meeting the needs within your family;
- Ask God to help you embrace your distinct role within that team.
Take time to reflect to improve:
Reflect on a time in your relationships when you had to completely trust God to meet daily needs.
What challenges occur when one becomes the primary income provider for the family?
Within the partnership of your marriage, how do you divide responsibilities for the provision and people care?
Consider these passages for further study on Roles:
Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Ephesians 5:22-23 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
1 Peter 3:1-7
Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornments, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
7 Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
2 Peter 1:3-11
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Great devotional of Gary Chapman which helped me realize how important each of us can be in the roles we have in our relationships.