“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Did you ever feel that your needs are too insignificant for God to bother with? Sometimes we think that we can handle all the small things and only need the Lord for the big, significant decisions of life. However, the Lord cares about our daily lives and nothing is too trivial for Him!
Stephen was a missionary kid. His parents had moved from their home in Canada to the deserts of NW Mexico. He had been looking forward to his twelfth birthday, his last year before becoming a teenager! Finally, the day came! His mother asked him what he would like for this special meal and he replied, “I want a strawberry store bought birthday cake!”
“Oh,” mother replied, “that would be very expensive. I’ll bake you a special cake instead.” So mother mixed up the batter and placed it in the oven. It wasn’t exactly what Stephen had hoped for, but it was what they could afford. After a few minutes baking in the oven, a sudden storm appeared in the sky bringing torrential rain, thunder and lightning. Soon, the electricity went out, the oven turned off and the cake was ruined! The cake rose about one inch. Mother did the best she could to frost it, but it just wasn’t edible. How disappointed Stephen was! He had hoped for a “strawberry store bought cake,” but his parents were unable to provide one.
After dinner, there was a knock on the door. A lady they had never seen before asked if there was a boy named Stephen living in the house? “Yes,” mother said. “This cake is for him,” the lady replied and handed mother a “strawberry store bought birthday cake!” Mother burst into tears and thanked the lady. How happy Stephen was when he saw his favorite cake delivered just in time for his birthday!
The lady explained that at 4 o’clock that afternoon, she was standing in her kitchen when a “voice” told her to go to the store and buy a “strawberry cake” for a boy named “Stephen.” The lady was not a Christian, nor did she know the missionaries. She hurried to the local bakery and asked if they had such a cake in the store. “No,” the baker replied, “and all our ovens are turned off for the night.” The lady appealed to the man, so he agreed to heat up the oven and bake a cake for her. After the cake cooled, it was frosted and topped with strawberries. The lady went happily off to find Stephen. The Lord directed her to the house and she presented the cake!
That was the beginning of a faith walk for that little boy! Stephen never forgot the story of his birthday cake and told it over and over. The lady was so impressed, she asked the missionary to tell her about Jesus and she accepted the Lord as her Savior!
Stephen grew up and became a missionary. The Lord gave him a ministry to the poor street kids of Mexico. He takes them off the streets, tells them about Jesus, educates them in a Christian school and teaches them to play soccer. Stephen’s boys have a winning team and they use it to glorify God and witness for Jesus in the town where they live. Some of the boys have received college scholarships. He also trains young men and women to become missionaries and they are sent to many parts of the world.
The Lord cares for each of us and wants to be part of every aspect of our lives. Don’t be afraid to ask Him for the little things! He even cares about strawberry birthday cakes!
Your friend, Jean