For provision

This plan is for when there is not enough and you do not know how it will work out. The passages speak of daily bread, birds and fields, and they are best read without hurry: none of them promises wealth, and some were written by people in need.

Philippians 4:19 comes at the end of a thank-you. Paul, in prison, had received a gift from the Philippians, and it is to them that he says his God will supply every need. Psalm 23:1 opens with the image of the shepherd and concludes that nothing will be lacking. Matthew 6:26 is in the Sermon on the Mount and proposes looking at the birds, which neither sow nor reap and are fed, to ask whether people are not worth more than they. Psalm 37:25 is the observation of an old man, who says he has never seen the righteous forsaken nor their children begging bread: it is the testimony of a life, not a guarantee given in every case. Proverbs 3:9 and Malachi 3:10 speak of offering God the firstfruits and the tithes. Malachi was addressed to post-exilic Judah, about the temple storehouse, and shows that provision in the Bible also passes through people's generosity toward one another.

Read one passage a day and write down what is enough today and what is lacking. If the need is real, also seek concrete help: family, church, social assistance.