Our Maker Does Provide
ALL around us there is abundant evidence that our Maker is concerned about the human family, in fact, about all living things. This earth is marvelously designed for sustaining plant, animal and human life. If it were not for man’s mismanagement of resources and the unequal distribution of food, humans everywhere could really enjoy life. It has been estimated that, if earth’s agricultural potential were maximized, there would be enough food to sustain about 10 times more people than the present world population. How generous the provisions for life are! Then, too, the earth is filled with variety and beauty, with things that delight our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.
In view of such evidence of our Maker’s loving care, we can rest assured that he will never forsake his servants. The Bible states: “Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?” (Matt. 6:26) Just think about the many birds that fill the air. Yet very few ever die of hunger. Since these creatures continue to benefit from God’s bountiful provisions for sustaining life, our Maker would certainly never permit his servants to starve to death en masse. He will answer the prayer: “Give us today our bread for this day.”—Matt. 6:11.
Ample proof to this effect is available from living examples. Even under the worst conditions imaginable, God’s servants have been able to continue living.
Take the case of 17-year-old Mart, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. While in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, he saw that many prisoners were willing to do almost anything to get a little extra food. Among them were those who exchanged their small food rations for tobacco or a tobacco substitute. Then hunger pressured them to steal food. When caught by other prisoners, some of these thieves were mercilessly beaten to death. As for Mart, he continued to rely on Jehovah God to sustain him under these terrible conditions.
When incarcerated, Mart weighed 78 kilos (172 pounds). Eleven months later this tall boy was a walking skeleton, weighing only 41 kilos (90 pounds). His father, who was then also put into the same concentration camp, did not even recognize him. Since Mart’s father had had enough to eat while still free, he now shared his rations with his son. Within 10 weeks Mart gained about 5 kilos (11 pounds). There were also times when he received food under unusual circumstances. Mart relates:
“Once the entire group in the barracks where I was staying had to exercise in the pouring rain from six o’clock in the evening until midnight, and our food was given to the pigs. Finally we went back to the barracks, and I felt a piece of bread being put into my hand by a Witness from another section of the camp. I was the only one with a little food.”
Many other Witnesses had similar experiences during Hitler’s rule over Germany. In that land, 1,687 Witnesses lost their jobs, 284 their businesses, 735 their homes, and 457 were not permitted to carry on their trade. In 129 cases, their property was confiscated, 826 had their pensions terminated, and an additional 329 suffered other personal loss. Of the 2,000 Witnesses who suffered inhuman treatment and deprivation in the concentration camps, the majority came out alive. Yes, despite planned efforts to destroy their means of living, Jehovah’s Witnesses as a body survived inside and outside the concentration camps. To whom do they give the credit for their survival?
This is the unanimous answer of a group of 230 Witnesses who survived the horrors of the concentration camps: “Thanks to the Lord’s assistance and his gracious support, the enemy’s designs to cause us to break our integrity have failed, even though he attempted this by employing innumerable violent devilish schemes as well as thousands of inquisitional practices right out of the Middle Ages, both physical and mental, and many flatteries and enticements.”
It was loyalty to God and to the guidelines found in the Bible that helped these Witnesses to survive. Surely, then, that same faithful adherence to Bible principles will enable others to put bread on their table under more favorable conditions. Do you share this conviction?
The Needed Incentive
Firm faith that God is real and that he deeply cares about mankind has helped tens of thousands to change their way of life for the better. From a careful examination of the Bible and from seeing the benefits of its guidelines in the lives of others, they have been able to make this faith their own. That conviction has helped many to break free from alcohol abuse, drug addiction, gambling, a life of crime, and other vices. Others have learned to be content and to make wise use of their assets. Convinced by personal experience that the Bible’s principles are sound, they have made efforts to follow these ever more closely.
They have also come to appreciate that living by Bible principles results in more than present benefits. Because God deeply cares about mankind, he has a grand future in store for them. The Bible tells us: “He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) Truly, we gain much by living in harmony with the Bible—the best way of life possible under present conditions and, in the future, a life without pain, sickness and death when God makes all things new.—Rev. 21:5.
If you are not now discussing the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses on a regular basis, please accept their invitation to do so without any cost to you. See for yourself how practical the Bible is and how the application of what it says can help you to put bread on your table. Also learn more about the marvelous future that God has in mind for all lovers of righteousness and how you may share in it.