God’s Promise to Provide All of Our Needs – Part 4

Faith-rest is when we recall a promise, relate that promise to God and His Word, and then reach a conclusion that allows us to relax under pressure.

Philippians 4:19 is a promise.

When you recall that, think about the fact that God has a perfect plan for you. He has to provide what you need to accomplish that plan. That is all Philippians 4:19 is telling you. God will never leave you without what is necessary to complete that plan. You will always have exactly what you need. Our all-knowing, all-powerful God will see to it.

Paul understood that. That is why he was able to write in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”

God’s unconditional grace supplies all our needs. When we understand this doctrine of logistical grace, we can be content no matter the circumstances. Why? Because we know that God supplies everything we need in His plan, how can we not be content? We know that God’s plan is unfolding exactly as He intended, and He is with us every step of the way, providing all our needs.

Whether we have an abundance or little, it is sufficient for carrying out God’s plan. That is a spiritually self-sustaining confidence in God’s gracious supply that will ALWAYS be there for us.

A spiritually self-sustaining confidence. When we are spiritually self-sustaining, we think with the mind of Christ, with the Word of God in our soul. We begin to rely on God's strength. We seek His comfort from His Word. We have confidence in His plan. We see His guidance in the circumstances of life. And we are content no matter the circumstances. That is a wonderful place to be because then the circumstances do not matter. No matter what life brings our way, we are content. It is God’s plan and because we know we are in God’s plan, we are content. Good circumstances or bad circumstances, we are content.

Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs,” should have a far-reaching effect in our lives.

1 Peter 5:7, “Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you.” He cares for you under every circumstance, and His gracious supply is a major part of that.

The key point that I have repeated now several times is that God supplies all our needs for one purpose. He supplies all our needs so we can accomplish His plan. That is why He supplies our needs. He supplies our needs to enable us to carry out His plan. However, God does not supply our needs so that we can do great things for Him.

Let me say that again.

• God supplies all our needs so that we can accomplish His plan.
• God does not supply all our needs so that we can do great things for Him.

There is a nuanced difference, a subtle difference between these two statements that we need to understand. It is a small difference in terms of the phrasing of the words, but it is a monumental difference in terms of meaning.

If we say that God provides for us or blesses us because we are doing great things for Him, where is our focus? It is on SELF and what we are doing for God. It is never about what we are doing for God. It is about what He does for us. God does not need us. God’s plan is going to go on with or without us. God’s plan will come to completion with or without us. God does not depend on us. We depend on Him!

God’s supply of everything we need to fulfill His plan depends totally on His grace.

God does NOT give to us because we are carrying out His plan or because we are doing great things for Him. We do not earn or deserve it; it is totally grace.

Being oriented to the grace of God is critical to our Christian life. Without grace orientation, we are destined for arrogance, and self-centeredness has no place in the plan of God. In fact, without humility, we cannot serve God. 1 Peter 5:5-6. We are not grace-oriented if we expect that God will supply all our needs because of what we do for God.

God’s grace provides for all our needs. That is unconditional. BUT there are conditions with our needs. Our needs vary greatly depending on whether we are in God’s plan or out of His plan, whether we are growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, whether we are renovating our thinking, and whether we think with the mind of Christ.

In the next lesson, we will look more closely at our needs and why they are conditional.