Do you rely on yourself, family, or others to meet your needs? Dr. Stanley explains that God assumes full responsibility for our needs when we obey Him. Even when He seems far away, He is working at the right time and in His perfect way. Throughout Scripture, God promises the faithful that He will provide for them.
Sermon Outline
Do you really believe God is able and eager to meet all of your needs? Most people would say yes. But when difficulty comes, problems arise, and sorrow strikes, we often wonder where God is and how we can trust Him. But the Lord is not only capable of meeting all our needs, He also is able to satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.
Some question this reasoning. They say, “I know God is capable of meeting my needs, but will He? Doesn’t He know that I’m struggling?” The Lord knows the battle that is ensuing around your life.
And while questions like these are asked by each one of us at some point, we need to learn a deeper principle, and that is how to focus on our faith when we are under trial. God is committed to meeting our needs, but first He wants to know that we are committed to living our lives for Him.
Jesus told His disciple not to worry. He admonished them to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). This is a promise, a commitment, and a pledge of action that we can claim. God knows we have emotional and material needs—food, shelter, a sense of belonging, and clothing. But Jesus was telling His followers that the focus of their lives should not be set on material products or “feel good” experiences. Instead, they were to set their hearts on God and His kingdom, and then every need and desire they had would be met.
The value of any commitment is based upon two things:
1. The ability of the promise maker to fulfill the promise.
2. The integrity of the promise maker, whether he has the character to follow through on the promise.
God certainly qualifies on both accounts. He has all the wisdom, power, and ability necessary to fulfill His promises to us. He also has proven integrity—He always keeps His promises. He is utterly faithful to His Word. He is holy and immutable; He is unchanging. His commandments, statutes, and promises have not changed; they reflect our unchanging God. He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
When you have an unmet need, you first need to pray and tell the Lord what you are facing. Prayer is an act of faith. It declares your trust in God and His ability. Many times, He allows a need to come so that He can teach you to trust Him in a greater way. No problem is too complicated or too difficult for Him to handle.
The real questions that we must answer are: “How are you responding in the midst of your circumstance or situation?” And, “Are you trusting Him or are you frantically looking for a way out of the difficulty without discovering what He wants you to learn?”
Jesus pledged that God would meet your needs when you “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” This means that He is obligated to meet your needs when you faithfully obey and trust Him. When you are walking in step with Him, He assumes full responsibility for the answer to your needs, problems, challenges, and circumstances of life. But there is a catch: He does this according to His will, purpose, plan, and timing. And meeting needs does not necessarily mean meeting every desire that we have. He may choose to answer our prayers quickly, or He may wait for a season. Regardless, when the answer comes, it will be perfect, and it will encourage us.
One of God’s greatest desires is for us to learn to trust His wisdom and timing. Do you have a preconceived idea about how He must act to meet your needs or whom He may use to meet them? Many people have said, “Well, if this man would just do such and such or that woman would agree to do so and so, then my need would be met.” Or they have said, “Well, I did such and such and therefore God must do this and that.”
Those who make statements like these may not be trusting the Lord. Rather, they are demanding that He exert His power on behalf of their wishes and commands. Anytime we “expect” God to move a certain way, we have missed the deeper lesson that He wants us to learn.
Faith requires complete trust in Him, even when we do not understand why He has allowed circumstances to unfold a certain way. Think of all the people in the Bible who trusted the Lord and gained a wondrous victory: Moses, David, Esther, Jeremiah, Elijah, the disciples, Mary, and many more. We should never obey Him merely to manipulate our situation. God knows our hearts. When we are surrendered to Him, He sees our devotion and goes to work on our behalf.
God calls us to trust Him, and Him alone, to meet our needs and to be our total source of supply. Furthermore, the Lord requires that we obey Him as part of our trusting Him. Therefore, tell Him, “Lord, I trust You completely to meet my needs in Your timing and according to Your methods. I want to lay down my selfish hopes, dreams, and desires. Mold these so that they represent Your will for my life. And I will continue to obey You, by the power of Your Spirit, believing that as I do, You will take care of me.” You can count on God’s love, wisdom, power, and grace. He has never failed you. He is the God who cares, and He will provide what you need at just the right time. And when He does, it will be abundantly beyond all you imagined.
Adapted from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, © 2009.
