249. All Your Need
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
This promise must be taken seriously. The only question we can have is: who decides what is a need?It may not work out if I decide what I need; God may not think I need it. In a wealthy culture needs are much different than they are in a poor area of the world. If we can accept God’s determinations about what we need then we have no problem believing the promise of “all your need.” When God decides what you need and when you need it there is no doubt that He will supply it. And He will do so according to His riches in glory. How rich is that? There is no limit to God’s supply. He can make ends meet, for He is rich enough.
The promise does not just say that God can supply your need, but that He shall.Although we don’t have an issue regarding belief that God has the ability: we know He is God and He can do anything, even the impossible. But will He? This is the issue that faith deals with. We are tempted to believe that God will supply our needs if and when we do good works and keep the commandments. “If I change my ways, God will hear my prayer and meet my need.” That is false theology.
The other key aspect of this promise is the words “by Christ Jesus.” God will supply our needs on account of Christ, not for our sake. Our good deeds (or bad deeds) will not influence God’s decision to supply our need. As a matter of fact, it is by Christ Jesus that we already have everything we need spiritually. All things have already been given to us by grace. It is the physical and material and temporal things about which we are concerned, and about which we have doubt.
So we believe God can supply our need since He is God; and we believe He does so because of Christ, and not us. So the question for our faith comes down to this: “Who defines “need?”If we can trust God to define need then we have no problem. Now I have to wrestle with myself about whether this or that request is something I need. I may sometimes learn that what I thought I needed I didn’t need after all. As we go through life in honest conversation with Godwe begin to learn more about what God’s will is and what my needs are. If we don’t talk to God or listen to Him we probably won’t learn much. Nevertheless, the promise stands: “My God shall supply all your need.”