Trusting God to Provide
Trusting God to Provide
Some have questions about the passage in Matthew that says in essence that we don't need to worry about things like food and clothing because Father knows we need them. They rightly pointed out that many people starve to death and that surely some of these are believers. So can we trust Father to provide our basic needs or not?
This section of scripture is part of a speech given by Jesus that we refer to as "The Sermon on the Mount." The very first thing we have to keep in mind when reading this passage is that Jesus was speaking to Jews who were under the Law and that the Law was still the covenant that Father had with them at the time Jesus was speaking.
That's very important because we read His statements in this “sermon” about cutting off hands and plucking out eyes, and we need to know if that's something He means for you and I to do today if we sin in ways involving our body parts. He also says that the people to whom He is speaking must be perfect just like God Himself is perfect, or they aren't going to enter His Kingdom.
Jesus absolutely meant what He said, and He wasn't using hyperbole. He was showing the Jews that they could never hope to be righteous by trying to keep the Law because even their best efforts were not perfect. Consequently, they would need to rely on Him for righteousness.
Not everything in this sermon falls into the same category however, and that's where our question about Father’s provision springs from. Some of what Jesus taught was principles of the Kingdom, and characteristics of God Himself. The statements about how He clothes the flowers and feeds the birds falls into this category.
Like many, I have struggled to understand this particular passage for the exact same reason most do, and I have asked the same questions about believers starving, and so on.
Here is what I have come to believe:
I believe that Jesus meant exactly what He said. I believe that He will supply our needs. I also believe that some believers die of starvation or exposure. My only explanation for this may leave you dissatisfied. It may just be their time, and the manner in which Father knows they will conduct themselves in their last days may be used by Him to draw others to salvation.
Over the years, my wife and I have seen the Lord meet our needs in times when things looked hopeless. I know others for whom the same is true.
Early in our marriage we had some extremely difficult times with almost no income for extended periods. People offered us a place to live free of charge. Someone in our church left bags of groceries for us week after week. I can attribute this only to Father's care.
Father (usually) works through other people in doing things like this. He has worked through my wife and me from time to time. We have felt strongly about providing money, or food, or other needs to people. One of us would raise the idea, and the other would agree that they had been thinking the same thing. We've found that we have agreed on the whole prospect, right down to dollar amounts, or forms of help. That can be nothing but the Spirit of God within us moving us both in the same direction.
I hope this helps move you along in your own understanding. Spend time with the passage reading what it actually says. Ask Father to show you what He means. He will absolutely do that.
