“’Well then,’ Jesus said, ‘the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.’” (Matthew 17:26b-27 NLT)
The premise upon which I base this post is that God is our provider, but I hasten to add that nowhere in Scripture does the Bible teach that He will provide everything we want, nor even everything for which we ask. And yes, I realize that Jesus said in John 14:13-14: “You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it!” And there are other verses that say similar things, but you can’t ignore the context in which Jesus said them.
In John 14 Jesus is speaking with His disciples about what is coming after His death. As always, His focus is accomplishing God’s will in God’s prescribed way. That’s why He prayed in the Garden: “Not My will, but Yours be done.” Jesus was perfect and knew what to ask the Father and when, but we don’t have that insight or understanding.
In our ignorance we may ask the Lord for a new Ferrari and a mansion in Maui, but unless that somehow fits into God’s plan to enable us to carry out His purposes more effectively, it’s not going to happen. Jesus’ whole life’s orientation was to carry out the will of His Father. Allowing the Father’s Spirit to live in and through Him was His purpose on earth.
His goal was to make the invisible God visible in His life and ministry. That’s His goal for us, so to give us permission to “ask for anything in My name” implies His desire for us to lean so heavily on Him that it would become more and more clear that apart from Him we are nothing and can do nothing. It’s an invitation to trust the Father for everything, just like Jesus did. To understand that everything we need to do everything He desires comes directly from the Father, just like it did for Jesus.
That said, I can attest to the fact that everything I’ve ever asked of God that was clearly in line with His will and purposes, He’s given. Not always the way I asked or in the timing I desired, but He’s always given me everything I’ve needed to be everything He’s desired me to be.
Jorge Rosario, in a Family Life devotional, wrote: “The provision of dollars and cents doesn’t always make sense. But we can rest assured that God will provide.” “But how?” you may wonder. You may be out of work, without any source of income, penniless, and hungry. How can you trust God in those times? The same way you trust Him in good times. How’s that? One minute at a time.
When I was penniless and hungry, I prayed for God’s provision, but He didn’t always answer on my schedule. Think of all the times Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, hungry, cold, and in many other ways suffered and was in need, but Paul’s conviction, as is mine, is that God never wasted a problem.
His Spirit was always teaching, always protecting, always informing in ways that Paul, and I, and you, and every other believer on the planet always has in this moment everything we need to be everything for which we’ve been called to be.
Whatever you’re feeling in this season of your life; whatever ways in which you’re suffering, I implore you to trust in your Creator. If you know Him, love Him, and are seeking to serve Him put your palms out in front of you and say, as I say everyday: “Father, this is my life. Take whatever I don’t need and give me everything I do need, so that I might be all you’ve called and equipped me to be for You. May my life reflect Your love and light and be lived today to Your honor and fame.”
He always answers and He always provides.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 