THE PROVIDER OF OUR NEEDS by Robert Soto

April 9, 2010

THE PROVIDER OF OUR NEEDS by Robert Soto

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

I enjoy seeing the many interesting - and sometimes downright funny - ways that God the Creator takes care of our needs. Our people would take things they found in the desert and come up with productive uses for them. Apaches liked metal arrows or spear heads that they got from old scrap iron that was left by the Texans and Mexicans. Sometimes they would find abandoned suitcases or boxes of clothes and they would utilize their newfound treasures by integrating them into their daily clothes which today we call our Indian outfits. You can say that we were scavengers. In many ways, we felt that was one way God the Creator provided for us.

I have been working on our buffalo corral for almost ten months. So it has been an interesting project. I call it my faith project because I kind of wait for God the Creator to provide the means to build the corral that eventually will become their home. I hope that will be some time in May. But I feel it is interesting that I always have something to do when I think I'm going to have some time to work on the project. It seems like when I need the material or the professional hands to do what needs to be done, God provides them. Today God the Creator provided the siding and the wood needed to finish the shelter, storage shed and the place where I will store their food and hay. I was invited to a construction sight where scrap wood was all over the place. I was like a little boy in a candy shop, looking around and not knowing what to get or not get. But at the end, it was God who provided the materials I needed today. For one man's scrap is another man's treasure. It is like Paul said, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church