Psalm 111:5 declares, “God provides food for those who fear Him.”
With that verse and promise as a backdrop, in the late 70s, Linda and I were living in Minnesota. We were preparing to go to Austria to help plant churches there, but I needed to complete my bachelor’s degree before we could go.
I was attending school full-time carrying 18 credits. I was also pastoring a church part-time and worked a second job to help make ends meet. Our son and daughter were four and three years old at the time. Financially, we were just barely scraping by.
I came home from work one day and Linda met me at the door. It was suppertime and I asked her what was for dinner. She told me there was nothing in the house to eat. We had depleted our meager groceries and the next day was payday. She went on to say that we had a little bit of milk, some flour and a few chicken bouillon cubes. But that was it.
I told her I needed to go outside for a few minutes. I went outside and walked over to the side of the house where we had planted our garden. But it was only June and nothing substantial had ripened yet.
As I walked around the garden, I wrestled with God. As a husband and father, I felt like a failure—I wasn’t providing adequately for my family. I didn’t want my children to go to bed hungry. I told the Lord that I was doing all I could and was trusting Him to provide for us.
While carrying on this conversation with the Lord, I mindlessly picked a handful of radishes that I discovered were ripe. Then, I continued walking and praying.
Suddenly, I stopped. I looked at the radishes in my hand and spoke aloud, “Radishes. What can we do with radishes?”
Then, in one of those memorable moments, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He answered my question and said, “Cream of radish soup.”
Excitedly, I ran into the house and announced to Linda that we were having cream of radish soup for supper! She looked at me incredulously and said, “I’ve never heard of cream of radish soup.” I quipped back, “Neither have I, but it might be good!”
So, we washed the radishes, sliced them up and prepared cream of radish soup with the meager ingredients we had on hand.
When the soup was ready, we called the kids to the table. We said grace over our meal thanking God with grateful hearts for His creative provision. Then, we ate with gusto! The soup was delicious! The kids even liked it!
Since that experience 40 years ago, from time to time we serve cream of radish soup and retell our story to our kids and grandchildren. We want them to know that the Lord will always provide. He may not provide in the way we think He might or should, but He always provides.
What are you currently trusting the Lord for? Where do you need Him to provide for you? Trust Him! He is trustworthy. He will provide!
©2019 Rob Fischer