A Jar of Jam and God’s Care in Times of Great Need.
How many of you, I wonder, have been enjoying some of the lovely home-made jams that we get especially around this time of the year. The thought of all this jam reminded me of a story I once read about a very special pot of homemade jam and the happiness that it brought to a poor family many years ago.
This family was so poor that sometimes they had no money at all, even for food. But for all that, they had one very great blessing, and that was that they had a mother and father who both believed and trusted in God.
One year, at jam-making time, one of their neighbours brought them two jars of lovely homemade jam. How thankful they were; and at supper time that evening, one of the jars was opened, and the other was put away into a cupboard for some special occasion.
As the weeks of the year moved on, the family’s little amount of money began to go down. They didn’t have enough to meet all their needs, and they were very distressed. But their faith in God’s goodness never left them, and they continued to pray to God, knowing that God knows all things, and that He would help them.
The mother decided to cheer up the children one evening, and so she brought out of the cupboard the other jar of jam that she had put away safely. How the children’s eyes lit up with excitement; but first of all, they all bowed their heads and gave thanks to God for what they were about to receive.
As the mother took the lid off the jam, however, what a surprise they got! Lying on top of the piece of paper between the lid and the jam was a shiny half-crown piece. (A half-crown, boys and girls, would only be worth 12½ pence to us today, but in those days when that family lived, it was worth much much more, and it could buy many of the things that they needed at that time.)
As they stared and stared at the half-crown they began to understand once again how God knew all their needs all along, and how He had met their need. How He had guided the mother so that she put the jar of jam with the money inside it into her cupboard, and not the other jar. How He had guided her in taking it out again just at the right time when they so badly needed that extra bit of money, to see them through the winter. As they thought about all that, how thankful they were.
Now, boys and girls, we must never forget that we still need God to provide everything for us – even today. Most of us have lots of food and everything else today, but nevertheless, we must never forget that it is God who gives us all things to enjoy. When we remember that, of course, then we will always thank God for everything that we have. Above all things, we must remember that God has provided salvation for our souls through Jesus Christ His Son. Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of all that God gives to us, and when we have Christ as our Saviour then we are really thankful to God for such a gift to us.
Also, when we know Christ as our Saviour, then we can be sure that God will give us all things that we need. Sometimes we might feel that God doesn’t know what we need, but He does know. He knows just as well as He knew what that family needed. When it was the right time, then He gave them what they needed.
One day Martin Luther felt as though God wasn’t going to hear his prayers for what he asked, and he felt very sad. He went into the woods for a walk and as he heard the birds singing he imagined they were singing this song:
“Mortal cease from toil and sorrow, God provideth for the morrow.”
That cheered him, and he knew again in his heart that God would provide for him and look after him in every way.