We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Romans 8:28

An author who wrote interestingly about the struggles of early settlers in Nebraska was Willa Cather. “O Pioneers!” was one of her novels. In her poem “Prairie Spring” she wrote about the opposites that made farming difficult: “The growing wheat, the growing weeds.” Early Nebraskans, fighting blizzards, dust storms, droughts, and grasshoppers, knew that also weeds had to be controlled if there was to be wheat. They understood what God meant when He told fallen Adam concerning the ground: “Through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17).

Good and evil – the proverbial wheat and weeds – are encountered in all vocations and walks of life. The business person has profits and losses. Sales people hear yes and no from the buying public. Teachers have bright pupils and dullards. Life in the home is similarly marked by ups and downs, by many a plus and many a minus.

Christians put up with “the growing wheat, the growing weeds.” They put all of life, including occupational, domestic, and personal affairs, into God’s hands. They do the best they can, leaving it to God to add His blessing – to give the increase to their sowing. Their trust in Him is supported through the use of God’s Word and prayer.

What gives us confidence, speaking specifically, is a certain “logic” of faith. Saint Paul refers to this in a beautiful passage in Romans. He confronts us with the great truth of the Gospel and then lets us draw our own conclusions with regard to the everyday affairs of life. He writes, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32)

We are reminded: Not only our spiritual well-being – that is, our sure salvation in Jesus Christ – but also our daily activity is covered by God’s promise to provide.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord God, for Your promise of daily bread which enables me to cope with the ups and downs of life. Amen.

(Devotions from "With Jesus Every Day" copyright 1997, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)

Today's Bible Readings: Ecclesiastes 1-3    Acts 9:1-22

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