And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corth. 9:8

There was bakery in Cauthersville, Missouri that sold cookies, cakes, pies and bread. Once a week they gave away a birthday cake to the person whose birthday fell on the day the cake was awarded. It was my tenth birthday and I won! It was the first thing I ever won and it wouldn’t be until I was over fifty that I won anything again. That next time was something at The Dixie Stampede for pitching toilet seats like horseshoes. But the cake I’ll always remember.

There isn’t much that is free is this life. But the good news is God provides and we don’t need to depend on free stuff. The verse above says, "having all you need". So far in my life God has provided and met every need. Suffice it to say I’ve had to work and many, many wants went unfulfilled.

The child of God has to put things in the right order. The verse says (paraphrase) "God is gracious at all times and provides what you need for good works." In other words, as long as you are doing the work God gives you to do you will be blessed and not go lacking. So often we look at what we have or don’t have before we are willing to do His work. Faith is saying yes to God and getting started on the work.

Gideon was told to make war. He said, "Lord I don’t have enough men." God said, "You’ve got too many." Through various tests God whittled Gideon’s army of 32,000 down to just three hundred men and told him victory was assured. Gideon quit arguing with God and went to fight the battle. In the end the victory was won just by blowing the trumpets.