January 6, 2022

The Lord Will Provide

We are busy making final preparations for the regular legislative session which begins next week. It kicks off with the governor's State of the State Address on Wednesday evening and our weekly Bible studies will begin on Thursday. Please pray for God to provide open doors for effective ministry during these next sixty days.

We all seem to be facing many difficulties in life right now, and the elected leaders, legislators, lobbyists, and staff serving at the capitol now face the added challenges of the legislative session.

John Newton wrote many hymns to encourage the people in his church at Olney. The following, "The Lord Will Provide", should be an encouragement to us during difficult times as well.

"The Lord Will Provide"

Though troubles assail

And dangers affright,

Though friends should all fail

And foes all unite;

Yet one thing secures us,

Whatever betide,

The scripture assures us,

The Lord will provide.

The birds without barn

Or storehouse are fed,

From them let us learn

To trust for our bread:

His saints, what is fitting,

Shall ne’er he denied,

So long as ’tis written,

The Lord will provide.

We may, like the ships,

By tempest be tossed

On perilous deeps,

But cannot be lost.

Though Satan enrages

The wind and the tide,

The promise engages,

The Lord will provide.

His call we obey

Like Abram of old,

Not knowing our way,

But faith makes us bold;

For though we are strangers

We have a good Guide,

And trust in all dangers,

The Lord will provide.

When Satan appears

To stop up our path,

And fill us with fears,

We triumph by faith;

He cannot take from us,

Though oft he has tried,

This heart–cheering promise,

The Lord will provide.

He tells us we’re weak,

Our hope is in vain,

The good that we seek

We ne’er shall obtain,

But when such suggestions

Our spirits have plied,

This answers all questions,

The Lord will provide.

No strength of our own,

Or goodness we claim,

Yet since we have known

The Savior’s great name;

In this our strong tower

For safety we hide,

The Lord is our power,

The Lord will provide.

When life sinks apace

And death is in view,

This word of his grace

Shall comfort us through:

No fearing or doubting

With Christ on our side,

We hope to die shouting,

The Lord will provide.

Tim Pauley

Capitol Commission West Virginia