Celebrating God’s Abundance

This episode contains portions from the following programs:

"The Lord's Prayer, Day 22"

"Real Stories of Grace"

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Dannah Gresh: It’s a crisp November day here in Pennsylvania, and let me tell you, I am in that Thanksgiving mood. I am. I can smell the turkey. I can taste the mashed potatoes. And I can't wait, on Black Friday, to hit the Christmas tree farm. But mostly, I love how Thanksgiving slows us down to say "thank you."

You know, Thanksgiving reminds me of God’s character. He is the God who provides. Not sparingly or begrudgingly—but abundantly! So many times in my life He has gone above and beyond to meet my needs and fill my life with goodness.

I'm thinking way, way back to when my son was a baby. My husband and I were new business owners—translation—we weren't making money; we were spending it. I knew that when I drove home from work with my baby (who came to work with me every day), there were two things missing: food and diapers. I think we had some crackers and a can of beans in the cupboard.

I just looked at my husband, and he said, "Let's pray. God provides. We're doing what He asked us to do." Friends, when I got home and opened the mailbox, there was one envelope. I have no idea to this day who it came from. It was $300, which was a whole lot of money! It just said, "I heard you were doing some free marketing work for a local ministry, and I felt like the Lord wanted to pay His workmen." Thankful doesn't even come close! That God would send that on that day with that need, what a gracious God He is.

I’m your host Dannah Gresh, and you’re listening to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. 

Well, I don’t think we can talk about Thanksgiving and God’s provision without thinking of the Pilgrims. I’m not sure if they really wore those big hats and buckle shoes, as wonderful as those outfits would have been. I also have no idea if they ate the classic Thanksgiving foods we enjoy—stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie. But one thing I do know is that God provided abundantly for them. 

Barbara Rainey over at Ever Thine Home wrote a book called Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember. And in that book, she told the Pilgrims’ story—how they arrived in Massachusetts with little, how they endured famine and cried out to God to sustain them. She wanted her kids and grandkids to know the history of God’s provision for His people here in America. I think it’s wise for us to remember this history, too.

Even if you’re one of our beloved international listeners, I hope this true story of God’s kindness warms your hearts on this November day. The audio version of Barbara’s book brings it all to life. So let’s kick off today’s episode with a little storytime to get ourselves in the Thanksgiving spirit.

Narrator: When the spring of 1622 finally arrived, the colony was much weakened by hunger and sickness, and the famine was not over. The weary pilgrims went to the field to plant their common crops, but their enthusiasm was greatly reduced.

However, they continued on with the life that God had given them. They had many dealings with their Indian friends, continued exploring the land, and obtained what sustenance they could by fishing, hunting, and bartering with the Indians.

Edward Winslow described their sad condition that spring saying that the bay and creeks were full of fish but their seines and netting were torn and rotten. He wrote that were it not for shellfish of different kinds that could be taken by hand, they would have perished.

Another colony was begun to the north, and other ships arrived in Cape Cod Bay several times that year, usually bringing colonists without supplies of any kind. Neither Bradford’s journal nor the writings of other pilgrims record a Thanksgiving celebration in that second harvest season. Bradford did write …

William Bradford: The welcome time of harvest approached, but it arose but to a little, so it well appeared that famine must still ensue the next year also.

Narrator: Again, God saw them through the winter of 1622–23 by means of another ship, which brought trading goods they could use to barter for corn with the Indians.

Planting time was soon upon them in April of 1623, their needs were desperate. The pilgrims realized they had to plant double the previous year’s crop to sustain them in the winter to come. This year it was decided they would seed a common cornfield for the whole colony, and then each family would be given a parcel of land to plant for its own use.

Everyone was enthusiastic, for they were eager to grow as much as possible to avoid another starving time. William Bradford observed …

William Bradford: This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been. The women now went willingly to the field and took their little ones with them to help set corn.

Narrator: Soon after the plantings, however, the weather turned dry. As the weeks of drought went by, the pilgrims watched their precious summer crops wither and slowly die. The Indians said they’d never seen a dry spell like it. After twelve weeks the pilgrims realized they would face certain starvation in the coming winter if it did not rain soon. The colonists were losing hope. They wondered if God, who had always gone before them, was against them. They began to pray. William Bradford asked everyone to participate in a day of fasting and prayer to ask the Lord for rain. All the pilgrims felt a deep sense of humility before God, and they sincerely sought His mercy. Edward Winslow described what happened.

Edward Winslow: That only the mercy of our God, who was as ready to hear as we were to ask, for though in the morning when we assembled together, the heavens were as clear and the drought as like to continue as it ever was, yet before our departure from the day of prayer and fasting, the weather was overcast, the clouds gathered on all sides. On the next morning, distilled such soft, sweet, and immoderate showers of rain continuing some fourteen days. Such was the bounty and goodness of our God.

Narrator: Bradford wrote …

William Bradford: It came without either wind or thunder or any violence, and by degrees in that abundance as that the earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken the decayed corn and other fruits as was wonderful to see and made the Indians astonished to behold.

Narrator: If the pilgrims were amazed at God’s answer to their prayers and His great deliverance, imagine how wide-eyed with wonder the Indians were. They had no knowledge of the God of the pilgrims, a personal, benevolent God who cared about His people. God was displaying His wonders. Winslow concluded his description of this miraculous event with his thoughts on the Indians’ response.

Edward Winslow: All of them admired the goodness of our God towards us, that brought so great a change in so short a time, showing the difference between their conjuration and our invocation on the name of God for rain – theirs being mixed with such storms and tempests as sometimes instead of doing them good, it layeth the corn flat on the ground to their prejudice, but ours in so gentle and seasonable a manner as they never observed the like. Praise the Lord, great things He hath done.

Narrator: The crops were saved. Another answer to prayer came about two weeks later. The ship, Anne, which was carrying many family members and friends to join the colony, had been reported lost at sea. But now it arrived safely at Plymouth Harbor. The newcomers, however, were shocked and dismayed at the condition of their friends and relatives. Bradford wrote that it was no wonder the newcomers were surprised. The pilgrims were thin and gaunt wearing ragged clothes, some little better than half naked. The only food they could offer in welcome was a lobster or piece of fish with no bread and nothing else but a cup of spring water.

Bradford concluded by saying …

William Bradford: But God gave them health and strength in good measure and showed them, by experience, the truth of the Word in Deuteronomy 8:3, that "man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord."

Narrator: That harvest season was an abundant one. There was even a surplus to trade with the Indians for what they needed that winter. They had much to celebrate. Another day of Thanksgiving was planned this year, probably in August or September. The Indians were again invited with their chief, Massasoit.

It was a season of gratitude. They were grateful for the rain and the harvest; they were grateful for the safe arrival of their family members and friends; they were grateful for the marriage of their wise Governor Bradford to Alice Southworth, who had also arrived on the Anne. Lastly, and most importantly they celebrated with grateful hearts God’s goodness to them. Edward Winslow wrote that …

Edward Winslow: Having these many signs of God’s favor and acceptance, we thought it would be a great ingratitude if secretly we should content ourselves with private Thanksgiving for that which, by private prayer, could not be obtained, and therefore another solemn day was set apart and appointed for that end. Wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise with all thankfulness to our God who dealt so graciously with us.

(Source: Family Life Today: "Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember, Day 5)

Dannah: Wow! I'm sorry that you have to now listen to my regular, old American accent. What a wonderful resource from Barbara Rainey at Ever Thine Home. For just a minute there, I felt like a kid again. Storytimes are the sweetest! Especially stories like this one that remind us of God’s faithfulness to provide for His people. 

He’s been doing that for a long time. I’m reminded of another story, this time from the Old Testament book of 1 Kings. It’s about a single mom in a place of desperate need—and a God who saw her there. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is here to walk us through it. Let’s listen.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: We talked in the last session about the prophet Elijah and how the famine came and the drought, and God provided for His servant. He sent him to a brook. He sent ravens to feed him. And God sent him to the house of a widow. I want to pick up in that story this time from the widow’s perspective in 1 Kings 17:8–12.

The word of the LORD came to [Elijah], "Arise, go to Zarephath. . . . Behold I have commanded a widow there to feed you." So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. 

And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." And she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son.” (vv. 8–12)

Her provider was gone, her human earthly provider. Her husband was gone.

"I’m going to go make a fire, get this flour and this oil and make a meal for my son and myself so we can eat it and die. That’s all we have left."

From a human perspective, it was to be her last meal.

Elijah comes and says, verse 13,

Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.

Can you imagine being in this woman’s position? This is all you have left. You have already been bereft of your husband, your human provider. You’ve got this son. We don’t know how old he was. We don’t know how much he ate. But we know there was just the barest minimum of provision left.

She could not see that beyond that, there would be any other provision. She knew of no other source of provision. She apparently had no means of earning any additional provision. And here comes this prophet and says, “Can you make me a loaf of bread?” And she says, “This is all I have. After this we’re going to die.” And the prophet persists. I mean, can you imagine?

Elijah had to know God was leading him this way, or otherwise how audacious would this have been, to say, “Well, before you make this bread for you and your son and die, could you make me some first?” It would sound very selfish. But Elijah was being directed by the Spirit of God to give, not only that widow a great lesson in the providence and provision of God, but to give us now reading this text a great lesson in the care of our Father God.

Elijah said, “Make me a cake first. Bring it to me and then make something for yourself and your son.” But this was not an empty challenge. There was the promise of God behind this request. Because Elijah goes on to say to the widow, “For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel.” There’s someone else here. Your husband may have died; I may be a poverty-stricken prophet, but God is still alive and He is not at all bereft. He is not penniless. He is not poverty stricken. He still has plenty of supplies. “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” (vv. 13–14)

How long was this famine? Do you remember? Three years. We don’t know how far they were into it at this point. But this could have been an extended period of time.

Armed with the prophet’s request and the promise of God, verse 15, “She went and did as Elijah said.” Is that faith or what? God promised, “The jar will not run out. The flour will not run out. The oil will not run out until the day this famine is over.”

She did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent; neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.” (vv. 15–16)

So here’s this widow, this mom, this single mom. You know what? It doesn’t add up. You can’t figure how this woman could have had one jar of flour and one jug of oil and it lasted for her and for her son and for the prophet for all the duration of this famine. She had daily needs. It was a time of famine. She had to feed herself and her son and now the prophet, but she gave out of the little that she had with no idea of where the next meal would come from.

But God had a daily supply for her needs, and she never once lacked throughout the entire famine.

Are we willing for God to give us just what we need for today? To pray that sincerely and believe that our needs will be met? I know I’m speaking to some single women who are wondering, Later in life, how will I be provided for? Single moms, widows, people on a limited retirement income saying, “I can’t see how it’s going to stretch to meet the needs.” The Lord, the God of Jacob is your God. He provided then; He can and will provide for His children today as they ask Him.

So it requires that we live life just one day at a time. It’s not wrong to plan, to save, to invest. What’s wrong is to trust in those things, to depend on those things or to demand them from God. What if He just wants to provide what I need today, and tomorrow what I need tomorrow?

I don’t think there was ever in that jar more than a handful of flour. I don’t think there was ever in that jug more than a little oil. But it lasted and lasted and lasted and lasted, and every day God replenished it.

Do you believe God? Do you believe God will meet your needs today and tomorrow, when you have a need God will meet it? As we see God provide our daily bread, we’re reminded that God has promised to provide for all our needs—not just our physical ones, but all of them. He will do that.

Dannah: He will, my friend. That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth encouraging us with a story of God’s abundant provision. You know, I love how Nancy emphasized that God provides for more than just our physical needs. When we have physical needs, He gives us food, clothing, shelter, and financial means as we trust in Him. But when we have spiritual need? In those moments, He gives us the best resource of all—His grace. 

I’m thinking of 2 Corinthians 9:8, which says, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Over the years, Nancy has spoken with countless women who’ve experienced God’s grace in abundant measure. Let’s listen to some of those conversations now, beginning with one woman’s story.

Woman 1: I grew up in a very godly home. For eighteen years I lived in deception and was one person on the outside and somebody totally different on the inside. I even deceived myself into thinking I was just a Christian who had problems.

Then last August when I went off to college, the life of deception I had been living on the inside became apparent on the outside. I began to live it out and made many very wrong choices.

But God showed grace. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time—I knew I was living in sin—but even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I wasn’t saved. But He showed grace to continually reach out to me. And I knew that even in the midst of all of it how much He loved me.

Then in February God showed grace by saving me and bringing me to the end of myself. He showed grace by three days before I got saved I was contemplating suicide. If I had done that I really believe I would have gone to hell. And He showed me grace in allowing that to fall through and did an awesome work by saving me.

Then He gave me grace as I did the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do by telling my parents the life I’ve lived, telling my church and coming back home from college and now living at home to establish a foundation and placing myself back under authority.

Nancy: More than you can know, that’s a story of a mom and a daughter and of incredible, incredible grace. If you ever think that God’s grace is not enough for your situation, for your circumstance, let me just say you just heard that God’s grace will take you and reach you and find you in places you never dreamed you’d be and not just give you back what you had before.

But the Scripture says that God can restore the years that the locust have eaten. God’s a redeeming God. He’s a gracious God. He is a God who is making all things new by His grace.

Sometimes you get through the big battles; you find God’s grace. I’m thinking of a passage in the Old Testament where an Old Testament king cried out to God in a battle and God came and saved him and helped him and delivered the people. It was a huge enemy.

Then they had a little battle that came afterward, and they tried it on their own. “I can handle this.” Flat on their face. You can’t handle it on your own. And sometimes you get through the big battle and then you get to the little one the next day, and you think, “This is a snap after what I’ve been through.” Don’t try and do it on your own. Don’t try and do it without God’s grace.

Woman 2: I’ve had a life of grace, and I recognize it. I kind of thought sometimes I was doing things on my own and didn’t know God even cared enough about me to give me grace. I knew the Scripture that His grace was sufficient, but still so often I went about doing things on my own and only consulting Him when I was desperate.

He had allowed desperation to come into my life so many times. I’m fifty-nine and a half years old, and I’m a mother of two adult sons and a grandmother of three. I find that now at my age, now going on 60, that I have a five-year-old grandson that I’m more than average responsible for his rearing. And it’s just circumstances that God’s allowed for this little boy to be in my life.

But God’s grace helps me to deny Satan’s words of, “You pretty well flunked out on your own two sons, and you may not do very well with this little man.” And he is a darling little boy, as every grandmother thinks their grandchildren are. He is just too smart for me. He is full of little trickeries and everything.

And I cry out for wisdom every day that I can help mold him and that I can be a part of channeling this brightness in him to serve God and to honor Him and glorify Him.

But I am desperate daily for His grace. I’m desperate to be a part of this little boy’s life that I can help mold him to be God’s man and to be a godly husband when there’s rough roads. In a lot of ways I don’t have many rocks, but I know the rocks and stumbling blocks that are in my way keep me looking up to God.

I can’t even imagine a day so smooth that I don’t cry up, “God, help me with these thoughts," even the thoughts. It’s not just the occurrences. I have a battle with the thoughts. So I can claim Scripture, and His grace then wipes those thoughts right out, and I can go on smiling and loving and serving Him.

Nancy: I’m so glad that my precious friend, Holly Elliff, is here with us today. I’ve watched Holly. I’ve known her over many years. I have seen Holly appropriate God’s grace in many different circumstances and situations over many years.

So I want to ask Holly if she just has any thoughts in relation to what we’ve shared today about the grace of God that would be helpful to close our time together.

Holly Elliff: Whether you are 80 or 8, God has all the available grace that you need at the moment that you need it. And God knows how I will need His grace this week. Scripture says it is God’s grace in which we stand.

I think one of the most dangerous things we do is get ahead of God’s grace in our life and then all of a sudden we’re way out there, and we realize, “I have absolutely no ability to meet this moment in my life.”

And so many, many times I think we just need to back up and realize I have God’s grace. I like to think of it as a miner’s cap that just sheds light right here. So if I am standing in this moment of my life, I have grace for this moment of my life. And tomorrow morning when I get up I’ll have grace for that moment.

If I get too far ahead of that, if I live too far in the future and speculate why I’m going to need God’s grace, then I will live in fear. And that’s one of Satan’s tools to keep us apart from God’s grace.

But if I will back up and realize, “God at that moment in the circumstances of my life, You have promised to give me everything I need for life and for godliness. So I’m going to live right here standing in the grace that You have promised to give me for this moment.

Dannah: That’s Nancy’s dear friend and mine, Holly Elliff, reminding you that God promises grace for one day at a time. All these women’s stories are really testimonies of God’s abundance. His grace for them never ran out!

I’m so grateful we got to spend some time celebrating God’s abundance together this weekend. I’ve been refreshed and encouraged, and I hope you feel the same! If God has used Revive Our Hearts to help you find freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ, would you consider partnering with us by making a donation? When you give a financial gift of any amount this month, we’d like to send you the beautiful new Revive Our Hearts calendar for 2026. It contains quotes from Nancy’s A Place of Quiet Rest, Scripture, beautiful hand-lettering, and peaceful illustrations. To give, visit ReviveOurHearts.com, and when you do, remember to request your 2026 calendar. 

Next week, we’re keeping the Thanksgiving theme going as we look at three women who gave thanks for God’s Word. I hope you’ll join us for that. In the meantime, enjoy fellowship with your local church family this weekend and rest in the Lord’s abundance. 

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time, for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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