And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
When we mix up our understanding of needs and wants, we can find ourselves dissatisfied with our lot in life. But what we must remember is God has promise to meet our every need, not our every want. If God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, and He does, He surely cares for you and will fulfill His promise to meet your needs, not just daily, but moment by moment. The only time your needs will not be met on this side of the grave, is when you have completed your ministry of service to Him and breathe your last. For then, you shall be in glory.
But does this truth mean God has no concern for our wants and ever satisfying them in our lives? Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the most memorable passages of Scripture can be found in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When we are delighting in the Lord, the Lord is delighting to give us our desires because our desires are in line with His desires for us. God delights in blessing His people with good things and we are to receive them with joy and thanksgiving, knowing that we are blessed to be a blessing to others.
Think about it from a parent’s perspective if you have children. Don’t you want to give your children the very best life has to offer. Of course you do, and that is because you love them. Well, the same is true for God. He loves all of His children and delights in giving them the desires of their hearts. Now the deepest biblical understanding in what it means to “delight in the Lord” is to make our Lord our greatest delight. When we do, we can be assured that our Lord will delight in not only meeting our needs, but in delivering to us the deepest desires of our heart.
As a pastor, I am often asked, “How do I know if I am truly delighting in the Lord?” The answer can be found only in looking at your time. If all you are using out of the 168 hours you have been given each week is 1 hour of it in the presence of your Lord, rest assured, delight for you is more like a duty. But if you are spending time each day on your knees and in His book, then expect your desires to be His desires for you and get ready to receive all that God has purposed and planned for your life. When it comes to the goodness of our God, I believe both needs and wants are ours when God is our greatest good.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 