“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
What a great verse! What an amazing promise from an even more amazing God! There are two parts to this promise. I love the fact that He doesn’t meet some or even most of our needs. He meets all of them. And He meets them according to Christ’s glorious riches. What are those riches? We are told that all things were created through Christ, so that covers just about everything, doesn’t it?
When we look at the first half of this promise, the question that automatically rises is, “What are my needs?” Of course, we need certain things for life, like food, water, clothing, and shelter. Emotionally, we need love and on a spiritual level, we have a basic need for relationship with Christ. Now let’s compare this important but rather short list with what we think we need. If we’re honest, we see that when we ask for food, we mean food we like. When we ask for clothing, we mean the latest styles. When we ask for shelter, we mean a big house (by the standards of many in the world) with heat, central air, indoor plumbing, etc.
That brings us to the second half of the verse, which is how God meets our needs: according to his glorious riches. I think that when we get to heaven, we’ll begin to realize what puny prayers we pray. We ask for a grain of sand when God is wanting to give us the entire seashore. I think God delights in surprising us by pouring out blessings that we didn’t even know existed.
The truth of the matter is that God supplies so much more than our basic needs. He truly does meet all our needs richly! The most obvious needs that are met are the ones we can see, the physical needs. But He doesn’t stop there. Are the bills piling up? He’ll meet those needs. Are you overwhelmed? He’ll give you strength. Are you lonely? He’ll give you comfort. Are you sad or afraid? He’ll walk right along beside you. Are you in pain, or facing a harsh diagnosis? He’ll give you rest. Are you sin-sick and guilt-stricken? He has already met that need, by taking that guilt on Himself. Take some time to celebrate God by counting all your needs for which He has so richly provided.