Wednesday, March 22, 2006

God is Not Moved By Your Need

God is not moved by your need. Not one bit. Does that surprise you? Shock you? Offend you? Then here is something else that will surprise you: God has already done everything He’s ever going to do about your need.

What? He’s not going to do anything to take care of you?

That’s right, because He has already done all that is necessary. He has moved heaven and earth to provide for you in every way. That’s why Jesus came to this planet 2,000 years ago and went to the Cross. It was to rescue you and meet your every need.

If God is not moved by your need, because He has already made full provision for it, then how do you access that provision. In other words, what does move God?

One word: Faith.

The Bible says,
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Without faith, there is no pleasing God. He is not moved in the least when you come to Him apart from faith. Oh, but when faith enters the picture, when you come to Him fully trusting His Word, the passion of God is aroused on your behalf.

Remember how Paul talked about the “thorn in the flesh,” the “messenger of satan” he had to deal with. He asked God three different times to remove that “thorn.” But God simply said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The grace of God had already provided for Paul in this situation. It empowered him to meet the need and deal with this demonic messenger. All Paul needed to do was to lay hold of this all-sufficient grace.

The same thing is true for you. Whatever your situation, whatever need is pressing in on you, whatever you are facing, God has already made provision for you concerning it. His grace is sufficient to meet every need and deal with every circumstance. His grace empowers you.

So how do you lay hold of His grace? Paul answered that in the book of Ephesians:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
You lay hold of God’s grace by faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). That is because the essence of faith is to believe the Word of God. It is the Word of God that tells us of His provision and His promises.

Jesus is the Word made flesh, and all God’s promises are fulfilled in Him. It is by faith in Him that we receive God’s provision for every need.

See also Pulling Paul’s Thorn.

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