Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

Can you really trust God for your needs?  Perhaps the question should be prefaced by asking, “When you were a kid, could you trust your dad for your needs?”  And if so, why?  “Well,” you say, “we were related.  He loved me and, therefore, provided for me.”  The same line of logic really applies to your being able to trust God for your needs, ones which your earthly father could never meet.  How so?  In a one-word response, it is relationship.

God doesn’t answer prayer for you because He likes your style, or even thinks you are pretty good—better than most and not nearly as bad as many.  He answers prayer because He is your Father when you have been born again, adopted into the family of God.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he gave them a great promise.  He was so bold as to say, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  Were the Philippians impressed?  Yes, in a big way.  Philippi, located in Northern Greece, had been famous for its gold deposits which had driven the economy, but then the vein of gold ran out and the wealth slowly dissipated.

The folks who lived there depended on the gold, but it ran out.  Paul was saying, “You can depend on your God.”

The question, of course, that confronts us is this: Can you still depend on God in a world of technology.com and computers and e-mail, miracle drugs, and sophistication?  Or was that a promise given just to a group of people in the first century?

The fact that God takes care of His children is a theme you will find throughout the pages of the entire book, and the principle is just as valid in the twenty-first century as it was the first.

In one of his books, that great but practical scholar A. W. Tozer pointed out that when God divided up the land, giving the twelve tribes the Promised Land, there was no land set aside for the tribe of Levi.  The Levites were the ones who were charged with the care of the tabernacle, those who made the daily sacrifices, and represented the people at the altar. No portion for them?  No.  God said, “I will be your portion,” thereby making their resources greater than kings, rajahs, and the wealthiest men and women in the world.  Think of it.  If you are God’s child, the one who controls the wealth of the mines, the diamonds of the deep, the riches of banking and industry, and the cattle on a thousand hills has given you a promise.  He will supply your need according to the riches of heaven.

Jesus seconded that promise when He said that if you seek Him and His righteousness and make Him first in your life, “all these other things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

A closing thought—something to think about.  God didn’t give you a signed blank check, promising to give you anything you asked for or wanted.  He promised to provide for your needs, something quite often is different from our wants.  But when you have needs—whether they be physical, emotional, or financial, and they are valid—you can pray, “Lord, I’m Your child, and You gave me a great promise in Your Word.  I’m trusting You to provide for me, and I’ll thank You in advance.  Now, Lord, here’s a great opportunity for You to show me how strong You are!”

Then relax.  God’s timing is different from ours, but of this you can be certain: God is seldom early but He is never late.  The bottom line is that He is precisely on time.

Thank God for His promises.

Resource reading:  Proverbs 3:5-6