“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
A friend likes to remind me that God is not sitting in heaven wondering, or fretting over, how He will supply for us. I don’t imagine He is carrying the two, sharpening His pencil or furrowing His brow. Everything we need, He has. And He doesn’t have to ask permission or wait for a signature. He is our full supply of everything.
My husband, Justin, and I have been together for nearly 18 years. We have had our ups, with excess, and we have had our downs – even to the point of limiting our flushing to conserve water. (Yes. It’s true!)
Over time, we have had moments of wondering how we would pay our mortgage, keep the lights on, pay the water bill or medical bill, put food on the table, or pay our team. Moments like these are part of the ups and downs of life, for nearly everyone at different points along their journey. But, God has truly always supplied. Always!
God sees all of our needs. He knows what we need, even before we do. He sees the concerns that creep up, that even live at the surface for seasons at times, and He tells us to shift the weight of those burdens over to Him. The Bible reminds us, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
King David, who had seen it all, said, “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the Godly abandoned or their children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25).
The Lord speaks to our hearts. He shows up through action. He even appeals to our logic, to remind us that He is our provider! He is reminding us that He sees us, He sees our need, He supplies for us, and that He wants to supply for us; because, He loves us.
[Here comes a tough assertion.] Unfortunately, our culture has turned this into, “If you don’t make me rich, you don’t love me.” I really wonder what this does to the heart of God, what kind of intimacy this removes, and what we are missing out on when we do that.
Let me ask, would you rather have a dad who sent a large check to you every month to satisfy His responsibility, or a dad who wants to do life with you all throughout the journey every, single day? God, our heavenly dad, wants to supply for our needs. If you take a look back, I thing we would all agree that He has more than proven Himself good on His word. Yet, He wants to supply so much more than that.
He wants to be here in the daily with us, to provide a sturdy foundation, to extend friendship and comfort, to protect us, to give us wisdom to help us make tough decisions. He wants to be a real dad to us in the daily. That is so much more than financial supply.
God wants to teach us through the journey. He wants to build spiritual muscle in us so we get stronger and calmer through the difficulties of life. He wants to help us grow to be solid, to begin to think beyond ourselves, to be able to mature and to partner with Him in the work He is doing.
I remember hitting milestones of maturity as a child, a teen and a young adult. As I did, my parents opened up more opportunities to me, because I was maturing, getting emotionally stronger, and proving to be trustworthy in those areas.
God is, and He wants to be, our supplier. Yet, there is even so much more beyond that baseline of financial provision. He is teaching us who He is, and who we are, through this. And, He is preparing us for greater Kingdom accomplishment through it all… Like the real dad that He is.
Sarah Guldalian 