By Dr Edward Tamale-Sali
The key message in this chapter is summarised by our Lord is verse 33;
“But ye seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added into you.”
This chapter summarises what Jesus talked about God taking care of our needs as His children. Each one of us has a purpose on Earth. It is not by chance or accident that you are born and live where you live today. Each person is special in God’s eyes. Isaiah 49:16: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
God’s Providence
In our January edition, we looked at how God beautifully made the flowers (lilies).
In this edition, we are considering what Jesus said about birds; and in this case, an example is our Uganda crane, our National Emblem.
This beautiful bird does not own business, farm, cars or apartments in order to raise money to buy food. But God provides for it.
Matthew 6:26 says: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”
Jesus is trying to help us understand that if He can feed millions of birds, what about human beings?
I have not seen the Uganda crane or other birds in my neighbourhood die of hunger or starvation. In case you have seen one, please send me a photo!
I worked in Kuwait, in the Middle East, for more than 10 years. I had never seen such a very hot country in my life.
Temperatures are around 40-60 degrees celsius most of the year except for three months (December to March).
In those hot months, I never saw birds falling dead. I even saw flowers in the desert thriving extremely well. The faithful God who created them was looking after them.
Jesus turns to us and asks, “if God cares so wonderfully for the flowers and birds, wont He more surely care for you?”
The key to succeed in these extreme want of provisions; school fees, marriage, job hunting, promotion and healing, is seeking God’s Kingdom first.
What does it mean to seek God’s Kingdom? We shall look at this in details in our next edition.
Once we understand this and apply it to our lives, blessings will start flowing and meet every need we have.
Personal testimony
During the reign of President Idi Amin (1972-1974), when I was a medical student at Makerere University, there was extreme scarcity of basic needs.
Soap and other daily needs were scarce, and people were lining up to buy fuel.
One of my lecturers was trading in charcoal, while another one was making kabalagala (pancakes), which were sold to medical students.
I witnessed this, but knew these well-qualified doctors never deserved this, but they had to find means to live better, and cleverly they adjusted. Those who did not adjust suffered beyond measure.
I prayed about this difficult time and kept wondering what to do. During my third year, I met three Swedish doctors, and as I showed them around, I asked one of them if I could get a placement in Sweden in my fourth year. To cut the long story short, within two months, I was in Stockholm Sweden.
I was treated as a VIP student and all that comes with it.
I spent six month there. Miraculously, God had intervened in my situation at the time of great scarcity in my country.
When I returned, I had plenty of resources to feed myself and helped many of my colleagues and family.
This avenue helped me later to flee into exile to UK and back to Sweden. This is what God does when you trust Him.
Matthew 6:25-34:
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
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