When the Numbers Don't Add Up

There are months when the numbers just don't add up. You add, subtract, rearrange — and it still doesn't work out. And in the middle of it all, you still have to provide for what your children need. Financial anguish has a particularly bitter taste for a mother.

"I shall not want" — that promise can sound almost provocative on the tight days. But the Psalm doesn't say you'll have abundance by your own standards. It says the Shepherd tends to the needs of the flock. That He knows what each sheep needs — and provides.

This isn't a blank check to spend without care. It's an anchor for anxiety: you are not alone in the responsibility of providing. There is a Shepherd. And He knows your need before you can put it into words.

Today, lay before Him the number that doesn't add up. The bill due next week. The fear of the end of the month. He can hear, and He wants to. And what He does with it goes beyond anything you could calculate.