Question 1

Can I really trust God to provide for me and take care of me?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 23:1-4The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.Psalm 50:15“Call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”God wants us to trust him to supply our needs. Trusting God means we have faith that he will come through for us in our times of need. That level of confidence is best developed during times when there is no crisis on the horizon.Joshua 3:9-10So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says. Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you.”Our obedience to God is a prerequisite to his special ongoing provision for us. When we submit to his plan and will for us, we make ourselves available to receive his care, and he promises to take care of us.Exodus 16:4-30Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. . . .” Then Moses told them [the people], “Do not keep any of it until morning.” But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell.God’s provision of manna for his people in the wilderness offers important lessons. God faithfully provided a daily supply of food for his people for forty years. Some doubted God’s instruction that they should only take enough for one day at a time (except on Friday when they were allowed to gather enough for the Sabbath). God was teaching his people to trust him for their food each and every day, and not to worry about the next day. He wanted his people to know by experience that he was trustworthy and would always provide. We also can be sure God will care for our physical needs if we are willing to obey him and be thankful for what he gives us. Too often we ask God to provide for us, but then think he hasn’t provided because we didn’t get everything we wanted, when we wanted it, and how we wanted it. We must trust God for the provision he gives us, and also be thankful for what he provides and how he provides it. God always has our best in mind.2 Peter 1:3-4By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.We can trust God to care for our spiritual needs. God has provided spiritual resources and wisdom to those who seek him. This is all part of our vital relationship with God in which we discover that our physical provisions are only a small part of what he gives us. The best God has given to us is himself, which includes his indwelling Holy Spirit, who helps us to grow more and more like him.Philippians 4:19This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.God’s supplies are unlimited. He does not dole them out sparingly, but lavishes them on us according to his infinite generosity. And just as Paul did, we should take time to encourage others to depend more completely on our loving God, who promises to provide what we need.John 4:13-14Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”John 6:35Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”We can trust God to fill our deepest hunger and thirst. The bread of life and living water are as essential to spiritual life as food and water are to our physical bodies. God knows that our biggest needs are to have our hearts filled with the love and power of Christ himself.Ephesians 1:7-8He [God] is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.Through the richness of his grace, God has provided for our greatest need—forgiveness of sin and salvation in Jesus Christ. And our ongoing relationship God is filled with his kindness, wisdom, and understanding. By grace, we can experience both the joy of knowing God and being known by God.

Question 2

Where do I turn when I need provision?

Accepted Answer

Philippians 4:6-7, 19Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. . . . And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.Trust that where God guides, God will provide. We must release our anxieties to God whose love is certain and whose ability to provide is more than adequate to supply our needs. This involves not only interaction with God in prayer but also action based on his direction in our lives.Matthew 6:31-33“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”Ephesians 3:20Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.We are to keep focused on our priorities and our purpose, trusting that God will supply the necessary provisions. The more we do this, the more we will be surprised by the ways God provides. He may not always give us exactly what we ask for, but he often gives more than we expect and better than we even thought to ask.2 Corinthians 9:8-10God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.God’s provisions to us are also meant to become his provisions through us. God will provide what we need to extend his work in the world. He provides generously, so we always have enough to share with others. If we are listening, God will direct us to the needs and people he means to help through us.

Question 3

In what ways is Jesus Christ God’s provision for me?

Accepted Answer

2 Peter 1:3-4By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need to live a godly life. His presence within us is God’s onboard provision of wisdom and power, allowing us to do and become all he desires.John 6:35Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”John 8:12Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”John 10:9-10“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”John 10:14-15“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.”John 11:25-26Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”John 14:6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”John 15:1, 5, 7-8“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. . . . “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. . . . But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”Jesus is God’s greatest provision for our greatest needs. He is our nourishment, our protection, our redeemer, our direction, our daily companion, and our eternal hope. He is our everything!John 3:16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”Romans 5:8-11God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.Romans 8:32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?Since God gave us the ultimate provision of his Son, we can trust him for everything we need in order to live life for his glory. Jesus is the incarnation of God’s love, the evidence that God has done everything necessary for our salvation.

Question 4

What needs has God promised to provide for?

Accepted Answer

1 Timothy 2:5There is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.Hebrews 9:15That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.Hebrews 12:24You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.We desperately need a mediator to stand between our sinful selves and our holy God. Jesus is God’s unique and special provision for that need. Jesus Christ represents God to us and us to God. He took our sins and our punishment by dying in our place. His mediation allows us to come boldly into God’s presence without a single fault.Psalm 34:10Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.Philippians 4:19This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.God promises to provide for all our needs. This truth addresses our limitations as humans—we cannot meet our own needs. At the deepest level this means we cannot save ourselves, but need the provision of a Savior.

Provision