GOD’S RICHES
“My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
The church is the last place to find those who worry about what will happen in the future. She has the greatest and the most trustworthy insurance policy ever devised. She has God. That’s it. No addendums, no riders, no small print. The church has God and God alone. Knowing this she can walk into any dark cavern, face any scary situation, confront any uncertain future, brace for any beckoning storm. She can face any government, any threat, any terror group, any disease, any broken relationship…..anything. How can the church be so bold in the midst of a collapsing world? Doesn’t she know she must to do everything she can to stop the bleeding? No, the church doesn’t know this. What she does know is that she can’t do everything. Rather she must do just one thing; she must trust her God. Human ingenuity need not apply; human self-will must be shoved aside; human ruminations, cogitations and schemes must be cut out of the will. The one thing the church must do - the only thing - is to have a firm confidence in God. There the argument begins and ends. Isn’t that easy?
No, its not easy. You know it; I know it. And while it is true that children can trade quite seamlessly in the faith market, for most of us faith is as difficult as walking a tightrope blindfolded. So we need help to believe. And apostle Paul gives us the help we need. So what helped Paul to walk forward in faith as he languished in a Roman prison? He understood one simple truth; his entire Christian life was outfitted by the eternal God. All of his needs would be met from the infinite deposit of riches found in Christ. That’s all he needed to know. He must merely walk to the bank. Well, Paul knew how to get to that bank and so do we. It depended on knowing three things. First, he knew about the wealth of God. He knew that God owned everything seen and unseen. God’s resources were so great that He could finance any trip or make up any deficit. Paul could become a debtor to Jew and Greek because He knew that God would continually supply his needs from a bank account that never ran dry. So long as Paul did God’s will, Paul would always have enough. Second, Paul knew intimately the wisdom of God. The apostle knew that God ordered all events and everything that happened was the best thing that could possibly happen. If Paul prospered, this was God’s wisdom on display. If Paul suffered before the lictor’s whip, then this too was the outworking of God’s perfect wisdom. Paul could trust every providence because he knew that every event was ordained by the perfectly wise God. Whatever God did was right. This allowed Paul to embrace everything happening in his life. He need not fear that he had made a wrong turn or that he was living in God’s plan B. Paul knew that his plans were faulty, yet he could trust in the plan of God which was always perfect. The trek up to Bithynia was Paul’s plan. The trip to Europe was God’s plan. And God’s plan won. Paul trusted in this and so may every believer trust in the perfect wisdom of God. Finally, Paul knew of God’s all-powerful will. He knew well Psalm 115:3 and must have oft repeated it. “But our God is in heaven; He does whatsoever He pleases.” God does what God wills to do because God has infinite, unbridled power. As Paul sat in that prison he knew that if God willed to unlock his shackles and spring open the doors of that prison, God could do so. He also knew that if God willed for Paul to stay in that filthy Maritime Prison then nothing Paul could do would release him. Knowing this, Paul could rest. He need not scheme and devise from his own limited understanding. He knew his Father’s plan was best and that His Father could execute with ease that plan.
Where do you find yourself during these difficult days? Hovering in a corner, shaking with fear, complaining about circumstances, manipulating events? Or like Paul are you trusting in your God, a God who has bottomless wealth, infinite wisdom and an effectual will? To know this God is to know joy and peace in the midst of every circumstance. To know this God is to know that every need will be supplied, every pathway will be right, every obstacle will conquered. Like I said before, all you need is God. Paul discovered this. So must we.