God will provide...

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’

“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’” (Matthew 4:1-4, NIV)

Now, you may be asking, “What would be wrong with Jesus turning a stone into bread?” He could do it, right? And he’s hungry. Bread is good. Why not do it?

While I’m not for sure why, I believe his response gives us a clue. It may be that Jesus is trying to teach us that our first focus must be on God not on the material things we need. He may be showing us that our first priority must be knowing God and his Word. It may be that he wants us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and trust him to meet our needs.

We all have physical needs, right? I do. You do. Even Jesus did when he walked this earth as a man. We human beings get tired and need sleep. We get hungry and need food. We get thirsty and need drink. We get cold and need clothing or shelter.

Because we have needs, we tend worry about meeting those needs. We spend a lot of energy and time and effort pursuing food, clothing, shelter, drink. I do. Don’t you? During economic downturns we spend even more time concerned about these things than in times of plenty.

Worry about our physical needs when we’re in dire straits causes us to ask questions.

“Will I have enough money to pay the mortgage off?”
“Can I keep my family in clothes this winter?”
“Am I going to be able to feed my kids?”
“How can I keep the gas bill paid?”

Those are legitimate questions. We all ask them. There’s nothing wrong with them in general. It’s the worry behind them that has me a bit…worried. Worry means that we’re asking these questions of the wrong person. We’re asking them of ourselves rather than God.

Hear the truth! God knows what we need. He has vast resources at his disposal. He can provide in ways you and I cannot imagine. So why worry? We can trust him. Let me make it personal. You can trust him.

Let’s listen to Jesus as he speaks to us about this.

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:24-34, NIV)

What you need, God will provide. So go after him. Leave the worrying to him. Seek to know him better. Seek to follow him faithfully. He will meet your needs. That’s his promise. He may not answer your trusting prayer in the way you want or expect, but he will provide. Through friends. Through the church. Through a new job. Through an unexpected gift. God will provide for your needs.

The devil wants you to forget about God’s promise, so he stirs up fear concerning scarcity. He gets your focus what you believe you lack. Money or your lack of it. Clothing or your lack of the right brands. Food. Drink. Whatever.

When he gets you focused on physical needs to the point that you can’t trust God, he’s happy. Anyone want to make Satan happy? I don’t. So let’s seek first God’s kingdom. Let’s trust God and leave the provision of our needs to him. God will provide. When Satan tempts you to doubt that, cry out to God. Trust him. He will see you through even the toughest of times.

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