February 11th, 2012
Provided For
We’ve been talking about the Precious Promises for Princes and Princesses, things that God has promised us in Christ as His beloved children - besides forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation in Jesus. We have talked about the fact that God’s Word says we are Picked from before the foundation of the world, we have been Purchased with the Blood of Christ, we are Precious in His sight, and He promises that we are Protected by Him in this life.
Another Precious Promise that we are going to look at today is that as His own beloved child, as a Prince or Princess in His Kingdom, God has promised to Provide for all of your needs. This is something so basic to life that we could hardly live without it; God’s provision.
All through the whole Bible, God promises to provide for His children, but for some reason, we always have a hard time believing it. I think it’s due to a heart of unbelief. We hear these promises and think, “Will God really do that? Can I count on that?” Which, coincidentally, happens to be the same approach the devil used in the Garden of Eden when he asked Eve, “Did God really say that?” and then the next question that was implied after that, “If He did say that, is that really what He meant?” In other words, “Can you really count on God’s Word?”
For most of us, this is where the rubber really hits the road. When we‘re talking about paying the rent, paying the doctor’s bill, or putting food on the table, either it’s there or it isn’t. Either God has kept His promise and provided it, or He hasn’t. So this is where faith suddenly becomes not just a theoretical, spiritual thing but painfully, harshly, real. Either we can count on God to keep His promises, or we can’t.
A lot of people today aren’t really Christians, but Deists. They believe intellectually that there is a God up there somewhere they believe that God sort of wound up the universe after creation (if they believe in creation at all) like some kind of wind-up toy and then pretty much walked away from it. They don’t expect Him to hear and answer prayer, and they don’t expect Him to be vitally concerned with the intimate details of our lives, especially our basic material needs.
But God, who made us, reveals in His Word that He understands that we live in a material body and that body has certain needs. We need to eat. We need shelter and clothing. Sometimes we need medical care.
Since these things are so much a part of who we are, a God who was not concerned about these things would not really be God. But our Father does care about these things, and so He has made us certain promises, and as always, He keeps his promises.
For example...
“My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
“I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:25)
Why did Jesus teach us to pray “Our Father, who art in Heaven...” ? Luther’s Small Catechism explains it this way: “God thereby tenderly encourages us to believe that He is truly our Father and that we are truly His children, so that we may boldly and confidently come to Him in prayer, even as beloved children come to their dear father.”
That lesson on prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer is a part of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew, chapter 6. It’s no coincidence that the same chapter goes on like this:
“25Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Now, how do we apply this to our life?
1. First of all, you can settle it in your mind once and for all that if you are really God’s child, then God has committed Himself to you in a unique way. While others may suffer want and go hungry, you will not. God has promised.
2. You don’t have to be afraid of the economy. Since you have God’s promise to take care of your needs, you are free from that worry. Sure, go ahead and be as wise as you know how to be with whatever God puts into your care - the Bible certainly teaches that as well: remember the parable of the talents? But ultimately, even if your retirement account and all your investments lose their value, God has still promised to take care of every need of yours.
3. You are free to give to others who have needs, because, after all, there’s more where that came from. God’s treasury is always full. Yes, the Bible says it’s your responsibility to provide first of all for your family - that is, to use what He provides for you to meet their needs. But you don’t need to be pinching pennies like a miser and worrying whether or not your nest egg will outlive you.
4. You are free to choose a career and activities, not based on what is going to make you the most money or bring you the most prestige, but on what God has uniquely gifted you to do; what fills your heart with satisfaction. God has promised to take care of your needs, so you are free to concentrate on being faithful in whatever He has called you to do.
What it God takes you through a time of testing through financial need, what does that mean for a Christian? Is He punishing you? Has He forgotten His promises?
a. It may be God testing you to see if you are really going to trust Him. It’s relatively easy to trust God when you have a hundred thousand dollars in an investment account. It’s a whole different thing to trust God when your bank account is suddenly empty. Then you really get to exercise your faith!
b. The Bible is full of suggestions (well, commands, really) that are designed to get us to exercise our faith. For example: tithing. You can prove to yourself every paycheck that you can trust God on just 90% of your income. Give the rest away, before you even do your monthly budget. If you are in one of those times of testing, I suggest you become scrupulous about tithing. Exercise your faith and let God make it stronger. Faith is remarkably like a muscle. It has to be exercised regularly in order to be strong when you need it.
c. It may be also that He is accomplishing something through you that you don’t know about. For example, God needs His people to demonstrate to others how trusting in Him actually works. But if you never have any needs or never have to wait for His supply, how will your children and others around you actually learn to trust in God’s promises through your example?
You can keep trusting, keep praising God (since you know He has promised to meet your need) and wait for the answer. The trick is to keep your eyes on the Supplier, not on the gaping need. He will come through. You can trust Him.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord. Take courage, and He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the Lord.”
Trust in His promises. He will come through, because He has given His Promise. You are His child, and you can trust Him.