MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY

“And it is he who will supply all your needs from his riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done for us.”
Philippians 4:19 TLB

It is God’s will to supply all our needs. He isn’t limited by the world’s economic situation – but He is limited if we don’t cooperate with Him through faith. God’s riches (His grace) has been extended towards us and every believer has already been crammed full of God’s blessing, power and everything they could ever need (Titus 2:11; Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3). But it doesn’t flow in our lives automatically. Salvation has to be received through faith, as does God’s blessing and power. It is already ours by grace (we could never earn it), but if we want to see it manifest in our lives we need to take hold of it by faith. God is never withholding His grace or blessing from us; we prevent it or frustrate it by not cooperating through faith.

My God shall supply all your needs… Paul was writing to the Philippian church who has supported him financially on more than one occasion. He was writing to thank them for their generosity and encourage them that God would supply all their needs because they were evidently believing and trusting in the Lord as their provider. Let me explain this a bit: If you believe that you are hungry, you’re going to try and satisfy that hunger by eating (even if you have eaten recently and won’t die if you don’t eat). If you believe that you’re cold, you’ll generally respond by trying to make yourself warm. If you believe that you are blessed, then you will be a blessing. The Bible says that the Christian is blessed (Ephesians 1:3) and so Christians should be generous in giving – in helping people in need and in sowing into the advancing of God’s Kingdom. We don’t give to be blessed. We don’t give so that God will give back to us. We give because we are blessed, and we give because we believe that we are blessed. If we aren’t giving, then it’s probably because we don’t really believe that we’re blessed. Giving is an indication of faith. Faith receives what God has already freely given by grace. Paul could tell the Philippians with all confidence that “my God shall supply all your needs…” because he had seen their faith in action. He had seen an indicator that faith existed in their hearts. Giving isn’t an indicator of the size of your bank balance; it’s an indicator of whether or not you believe God’s Word that you are blessed, even if you don’t have a lot of earthly wealth. In the area of finances, faith is expressed through our giving. It takes faith to give away something that you think you need and trust God that you will have enough. Giving shows that you trust God as your source. If there were no God and if His promises were not true it would be stupid to give, but God is faithful and His Word is true.

“My God shall supply all your need” – if you’re trusting in God as your source and provider. If we aren’t trusting God and exercising our faith, then it’s more appropriate to say “My God can provide…” – not “shall”. He wants to provide, but His gracious gifts need to be received by faith, and faith always reveals itself in demonstration. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17), or as the Message Bible puts it, “Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”.