“We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn’t come naturally. It’s a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith.”
—Charles R. Swindoll

All of us were once children, unable to feed ourselves, clean ourselves, or even take ourselves to the bathroom. And while you might not remember much of your time as a child, I guarantee that somebody at some point took care of you. Whether through the provision of food, shelter, or care, we’ve all experienced a time in our lives when we relied on someone else because we could not provide for ourselves.
In Scripture, we find that Jesus is our ultimate provider—not only because he provided redemption and mercy on the cross, but because everything given to us was never really ours in the first place. Everything good comes from Jesus, and we cannot say we truly love him until we can humbly accept this beautiful reality.
But that doesn’t make Jesus our magic genie. God isn’t always going to give us what we want, but he will always give us his best for our lives.
Just as good parents wouldn’t let their child eat ice cream for every meal, God isn’t going to deliver what we think we want just because we pray for it. The kid who wants ice cream may not like vegetables, but he or she also doesn’t realize that healthy food is going to be so much better for the body and for a good life than a diet made up of just desserts. So the loving parent gives the child what he or she needs, which might not always be what he or she wants.
Like any loving parent, our Heavenly Father is looking to provide for his children. In fact, the Hebrew term Jehovah Jireh means “God our provider.” And although we all have different needs, God has the omnipotence to take care of every single person who calls upon his glorious name. Nothing is too big or too small.
The voice of God has the power to raise the dead, yet sometimes we still worry if God will come through in our measly troubles. If Martha could meet Jesus on a hot, dirty road and believe that he could raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:17–27), what’s stopping us while we sit in our comfortable houses from believing he can provide our most basic of needs? Look at all the things Jesus provided during his time on earth:
• food for the masses (Luke 9:10–17);
• calming of storms (Luke 8:22–25);
• healing for the sick (Luke 14:1–6); and
• healing for the lame (Matt 15:30).
You get the point. Many of today’s Christians are focused on obtaining what they want instead of being content knowing God will provide for their needs. He is our ultimate provider, and without him we are nothing more than children grabbing for things we cannot reach.

VERSE OF THE DAY

“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”
(Philippians 4:19).

Wilson, J. (2016). 30 words: a devotional for the rest of us. (2nd Edition, Ed.) (pp. 14–16). Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press.