[And] my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:19
What are your needs and the needs on your heart? I have so many needs and I bring them to our Lord Jesus: “God, please, I need the words to share the gospel with this person.” “Lord, I need faithful supporters so we can stay on the field and minister to your people here!” “Lord, please, please, please, I need to sleep, oh God please let my baby sleep through the night, I need to sleep.” I have many needs. Some are very shallow (mostly material), but I also have some very spiritual ones like the need to share the gospel with a particular person. And certainly, some needs I can spiritualize to make them seem holier...God, I need a great house so I can minister to your people through hospitality! Can I have an awesome house, with a great stove? (I hate my stove.)
Are these the needs Paul meant? What are the needs Jesus will meet according to His great riches? We need Jesus, and He gives us Jesus in abundance. Oh, how Jesus can overflow in our lives. We need the Holy Spirit to pray and intercede for us, to comfort us and guide us, and He has given us the Holy Spirit. We need abundant grace from a loving and kind Father and we have it. And maybe, when I’m up in the middle of the night, when I’m struggling to stay awake and nurse my precious baby—maybe that is the need He is meeting. Maybe as I look at her precious face, I need to celebrate God’s faithfulness and goodness to us; and maybe as her cry wakes me up I need to be reminded that God has conquered death, and a baby’s cry is new life.
We have other needs, too. We have needs that we are even too afraid to pray for—do you have any needs that you’re afraid to whisper? We need to live a life devoted to God, free from distraction. He can take away those distractions—is that your need? What about the children you’ve been given? You needed those exact children—out of all of the people who have ever existed or ever will, they are the children God has chosen for you. The job He’s given you? Maybe He has met your needs there, too. I don’t know why—I don’t even know you, but I know God, and I know that our God meets our every need in Jesus.
Fulfilling our needs doesn’t mean bad things must happen in our life, but it does mean when those bad things happen God is working them for good. He is for us, and we can rest assured any need we have will be met because of Jesus. We can rest fully and be grateful, knowing He is meeting our every need.
For Reflection
What needs has God has met in your life?
What needs do you bring to God in prayer? Do you trust Him to meet your needs?
Think about some specific needs you have right now, and ask God to show you how He is meeting them.