Here Are A Few Things You'll Need

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he pictures were hung, the floors were mopped, the carpet was cleaned and vacuumed, the bed was made, the clothes were hung in the closet, the dishes were washed and stacked, and all the last little touches were completed.  My first apartment was now ready to become my home.  Well, not quite.  You see, now I had to maintain the apartment and that meant stocking up on cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, paper products, and all the little things you need but don’t really think of when you’re moving from one place to another.

My parents, however, were one step ahead of me.  They took my car one morning and went shopping.  They weren’t gone very long when I heard a knock at the door.  My mom entered with her arms full of paper towels and told me my dad was downstairs requesting my assistance in unloading the back of the car.  By using the word “requesting” I knew she meant he needed my help pronto!

When I got to the car, I found my dad unloading all types of goodies onto the sidewalk.  The car was completely filled with hand soap, dish detergent, fabric softener, laundry detergent, a mop, a bucket, cleaning supplies, shampoo, cleaning products, napkins, and an ample supply of toilet tissue.  It was like Christmas!!  I couldn’t believe my eyes or the overwhelming feeling of gratitude that filled my heart.  All of these things I needed but I didn’t have the wherewithal to purchase all of them at once.  That is when God taught me a wonderful lesson about supplying all my needs.

In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul boldly and confidently assures his readers of God’s ability and desire to provide all of their needs.  Philippians 4:19 stands as one of the great bedrock promises of the Christian faith, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  Read this passage again very slowly and you will notice two distinct truths embedded in Paul’s words.

First, God will supply not some of our needs but all of them.  So many times in our walk with the Lord, we believe He will supply some of our needs or perhaps most of our needs but we find it difficult to believe that all of our needs will be met.  But look at what the passage says.  Paul states categorically that God will meet all of our needs.  That means every single one of them, no matter how large or small, and no matter how insignificant we think they are.

Second, God provides these needs according to his riches, not according to ours.  My mom and dad purchased the supplies for my apartment from their own personal finances, not from mine.  This was a good thing because my bank balance resembled the widow with two mites.  The same is true with God.  God does not use our resources to provide for us because we simply have no resources to pull from.  But God’s riches are in Christ Jesus.  This means that God has an endless supply of resources and according to those riches, he can and will supply every need we have today. 

When my mom came into the apartment with her arms full of supplies, she looked at me, smiled, and said, “Here are a few things you’ll need.”  However, when we emptied the car, the apartment was filled and actually overflowed into the storage unit.  What a picture of God’s grace and provision this is!  God not only meets our needs, he surpasses them!  He says to us, “Here are some things you’ll need.”  He fills our lives with things we didn’t even consider and always makes sure we are fully stocked with all the wonderful things he has for us in Christ Jesus.  Are you well stocked today?