HOW GOD MEETS ALL OUR NEEDS

HOW GOD MEETS ALL OUR NEEDS
Harry Foster

"My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Jesus Christ." Philippians 4:19

HOW could Paul be so positive when he did not know what needs the Philippians had? As the church had grown since he had so hurriedly left it, there must have been believers there whom he had never seen. How could he address all the saints and speak so dogmatically of all their needs, when he did not know them? He did not need to know them. He knew his God. And so it was out of his own rich experience of divine sufficiency that he commended them with all their needs to his own proved Lord: "My God", he assured them, "is the One who will assuredly supply all your needs". His was more than a general statement about God; it was coloured and reinforced by what he himself had learned. This personal reference to his God also suggests that he has information to impart as to how God meets our needs. In our search for help we turn back to the beginning of this letter and ask just what were the qualities of Paul's God which are so calculated to provide all our needs. We have four chapters before us, and each will help to clarify this great truth for us.

Chapter One. The God of Happenings

I suggest that the first chapter speaks of God's ability to turn every experience which we can have to good account. For the believer, He is the one who is in full command of all that happens. "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel" (verse 12).

The allusion here is to his imprisonment. The Philippians had first got to know Paul when he was thrust into the inner dungeon of their own prison. Wonderful things happened, then, in answer to prayer. In a marvellous earth-shaking experience Paul and Silas were set free and all their hearts had been filled with rejoicing. This time, however, their dear Paul had been a prisoner for a long time and there had been no release for him in spite of all their prayers. What had gone wrong? Was this a need that God could not meet?

The apostle was clearly concerned to assure them that nothing had gone wrong -- in fact everything was turning out for good and for [91/92] God's glory. "The things that happened to me"! What a catalogue of apparent calamities. If Luke had sent them a letter about it all (which is more than likely, since he knew them so well), they would have the details of those happenings which we can read in Acts 21:10 onwards. They would thus know of the mobbing in the temple, the fact that he had literally to be carried away by Roman soldiers to prevent the angry crowd from tearing him to pieces. They would have known of the plots, the chains, the unjust delays of insincere governors who were looking for bribes, the storm and the shipwreck, the much rain, the cold and the viper in the firewood, all culminating in the mystery of the long drawn out captivity in the Roman prison.

What strange and painful 'happenings'! Could not the God who opened prisons so easily have met Paul's needs by opening his? Could not the Saviour who so easily calmed the storm have made it calm and safe for Paul? Peter was not only released from prison in answer to prayer but the tyrant Herod was struck down by divine judgment. Could not Peter's God have met Paul's need by doing the same with the tyrants who kept Paul captive? Of course He could. But He did not. So one of the first lessons we must learn about God's meeting of our needs is that He has a way of not repeating Himself, but of changing His methods. He did not work for Paul in Rome as He had formerly worked for him in Philippi. This was no problem to Paul who wanted to assure his friends in Philippi that this new phase of God's dealings with him was bringing greater blessings than ever. He had been sovereignly brought to Rome where God had a special purpose for him. If the journey there had been a strange one, it had all been overruled by divine wisdom and power. It is true that when the fierce tempest struck their ship, God did nothing to mitigate its fury, leaving them in apparently hopeless circumstances for many dark days. But in the middle of the gale He sent a special heavenly messenger to His servant. He did not this time speak peace to the winds and waves, but He did something even better when he filled Paul's heart and mind with the peace "that passeth all understanding" (4:7). At every turn and in every circumstance, God met Paul's needs in ways which brought blessing to many and glory to Himself. From his prison the apostle could make the claim that Christ had been exalted in those strange years of testing, only asking for prayer "that now, as always", Christ might be exalted in his body (1:20).

Paul's words not only tell us more about his God, but suggest to us ways in which He meets our needs. He allows circumstances and men to work against us, and then overrules all the evil to bring salvation to sinners (v.13), encouragement to other Christians (v.14), and joy to the heart of His tried servant (v.18). Death itself, the great enemy, can only come when He wills it, and then it will bring gain to its victim (v.21), and will certainly mean that the one involved has no more work on earth to do for his Lord (v.25). Paul's God was the One who would perfect the work which He had begun in His servant, and who gave the apostle confidence that He would do the same for us all. He is the God of all the things that happen to us. No wonder that the apostle keeps on exhorting us to rejoice.




Chapter Two. The God of Humility
With a minimum of words and in a few striking sentences, Paul here reminds us of the Incarnation, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. His point of stress, however, is not on the actual atonement but rather on the mind which was in Christ from the first right through to the last. This can best be expressed in one word -- humility. "He humbled himself" (v.8). Humility is probably the greatest spiritual virtue and in this, as in everything else, the Lord Jesus excelled. In a moment of Self-revelation He made the disclosure that He is meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29) or as the International Version has it: "gentle and humble in heart".

This humility unto death, even the death of the cross, has brought us salvation. But it has done more than that, it has undercut and overthrown the whole kingdom of Satan which is based upon pride. It was pride which precipitated Satan's downfall and it was the poison of pride which infected the human race when Adam sinned. God will tolerate no trace of pride in His kingdom. That kingdom is reserved for those who are poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). Until the Incarnation there was no perfectly humble person in the human race. At one stage in his life the great Moses did reach the heights of being described as the meekest man on earth, but he subsequently failed on that very point and was excluded from the Promised Land because of his [92/93] failure. The Lord Jesus did not need to attain to the virtue, it was part of the perfection which He brought down from His place of equality with God. No doubt, though, some of the fiercest temptations which assailed Him in His earthly life were associated with this quality of life. But having emptied Himself, He humbled Himself and went to the utmost limit of testing with not a trace of pride at any point.

This great victory of the One who was not only humble in appearance and action but truly humble in heart, has provided God with a perfectly humble Man. As such He is head of God's heavenly kingdom. But if humility is essential for that kingdom then every child of Adam would have been eternally excluded from it but for the 'cross work' of the Lord Jesus. Our greatest lack is humility: our favourite sin is pride. As the representative Man, the Lord Jesus challenged Satan's kingdom of pride, just as David challenged the giant, Goliath, and He achieved a full and final victory by the one smooth stone of His perfect humbling unto death. Because of this extreme humbling of the cross, the Father has exalted His Son to the highest place and invited Him to share His throne. In heaven it is incarnate Humility which is enthroned. Christ did not do this for Himself. He need never have left the throne. He did it for the Father so that God might have a kingdom of humble sons. And He did it for us that we might be made fit for that kingdom.

What was the greatest need of Saul, the proud Pharisee? Surely it was humility. In Christ God supplied that need: "I, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1). Paul's teaching, confirmed by his own experience, was that when Christ descended into the depths, He took us with Him. We had no humility of our own, but He made it possible for us to share in His death so that self as well as sin might be buried with Him, and our problem of sinful pride for ever be solved. This, however, is not automatic. In our Christian life it is often contradicted. But it need not be so. We must appropriate this blessing by faith, claiming that in Christ pride is crucified and humility enthroned. This, then, is how God supplied Paul's paramount need.

What was the greatest need of the Philippians? It was this same lack of Christian humility. They needed this humility to live together a life worthy of the gospel (1:27); they needed Christlike humility to practise spiritual fellowship (2:3); they needed it to press on towards God's goal (3:13); and they manifestly needed it if they were to work together in harmony (4:2). So, at every moment and from every angle, this was their need, as it certainly is ours too. As we realise this, our verse takes on new lustre, for we can rejoice that the God who met Paul's need in this matter will fully meet ours.

One more thing should be stated on this matter. If humility is such a supreme virtue in God's sight, then He will always desire to supply our needs in such a way that we may keep humble. Perhaps the ugliest form of pride is when we are proud of some spiritual achievement or success. It may well be that God withholds answers to our prayers which He would otherwise gladly give because He knows that we cannot be trusted to keep humble with them. Not that He begrudges us anything. No, He loves to give bountifully. What is important, though, is that ever fresh experience of His generosity should bring us lower in humble worship. There is evidence that this is what happened in the case of Paul. Perhaps that is why he stressed that it was his God who will supply all our needs.


Chapter Three. The God of Hope


God is actually given this title (Romans 15:13). With equal truth He might well be called "The God of the hopeless". Now there is one realm in which every human being is quite hopeless and that is in the physical. Our bodies are doomed to die; they are in fact described by God as mortal bodies. Whoever we are and whatever we do, we must listen to the Wise Man when he warns us that the time will come when "the grinders shall cease because they are few ... those that look out of the windows will be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the street ... the silver cord will be loosed and the golden bowl be broken, the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern ..." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-6). "It is appointed unto man once to die." These bodies of ours have no lasting future -- they are hopeless.

Let us turn, then, from the despairing poetry of the Old Testament Preacher to the inspiring prose of our New Testament preacher, Paul. He tells us that his God is the God of the hopeless. "He is able to subdue all things (even death!) to himself" (v.21) and He will demonstrate this supreme ability of His when He gives us a new[93/94] body, like unto the body of Christ's glory. Meanwhile, of course, He is able to preserve, and if necessary patch-up by healing, these Spirit-indwelt bodies of our humiliation. That is just a part of the guarantee that He will meet all our needs. We can safely count on the Lord to give us the necessary strength for the doing of His will so long as He wants us to continue here on this earth. Apart from that, we have to wait for His Son from heaven before we get our perfect bodies.

This, however, is almost a footnote in this great chapter of hope, for the 'goal' which had captured Paul's vision was not just an immortal body but a character fully conformed to the image of Christ. To the apostle every lesser attainment was only an inconvenient hindrance to be discarded in his eager quest for "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (v.8). He knew what God had captured him for; it was not just that he should be forgiven, reconciled and used in service, but that he should come to perfection in Christ. Mature as the apostle was, he recognised how far short he still came (v.12) and was all too aware that in himself he could never become a fully Christlike man.

His need -- which is also the need of everyone of us -- was so to be moulded by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that he should be changed into Christ's image. His faith embraced this hope. He pressed toward this mark. Greater even than a perfect body was the need of a perfect man to occupy it, and this tremendous need is included in his inclusive statement about his God's sufficiency. Every spiritual Philippian felt this same need, and every Christ-captivated Christian now feels it too. Let us now listen to Paul's dogmatic assertion: "My God will meet every need of yours" -- even this one! Comforted and encouraged by these words we may keep pressing on as Paul did, counting on God's ability to lead us from our appalling earthliness to "the prize of the on-high calling of Christ Jesus" (v.14).

Once again, we should observe that this consideration governs all God's dealings with us. Much as He may like to keep us feeling happy, His faithful love makes Him always careful to answer our prayers in the light of eternal values. How does Paul's God meet our needs? By leading us on into ever-growing conformity to Christ. He sometimes refrains from responding to our less worthy desires because His Spirit reads within us that deepest and purest desire, which is to become truly Christlike. This need eclipses all others.


Chapter Four. The God of Harmony


This is the chapter which contains the beautiful phrase: "the peace of God which passes all understanding" (v.7). It is not just an alliterative convenience to employ the word 'harmony', for this is the idea behind the Biblical idea of peace. In this chapter we have mention of the peace of God as well as of the God of peace. Tension and discord in the life prove that a man is not really experiencing God's ability to meet his every need. The Christian life and the Christian community should be maintained in the harmony of heaven.

How shall Euodias and Syntyche live and work in harmony? Only by having a fresh experience of the divine peace ministered by Paul's God. How shall restless minds, disturbed by all the ugliness and corruption of the world around them, find relief from their inner turmoil? Only by receiving from God a new control of their thought-life by the peaceful Holy Spirit. How can even an apostle maintain equanimity amidst all the chances and changes of service for Christ? Only by being given a new supply of contentment by God Himself.

We notice here, though, that God often calls for human co-operation in His work of meeting human needs, Paul has to urge his nameless yoke-fellow to give assistance to the striving sisters. He has to remind the Philippians that they must pray, and must mingle thanksgiving with their prayers, if they are to enjoy the miracle of divine peace. What is more, he instructs them deliberately to focus their minds on the things which are good and honourable, even as they look to God to supply mental peace to their anxious minds. He goes on to tell them that if they want the God of peace to be with them, then they must walk obediently in His right ways. And even he, claiming as he does to enjoy full contentment in the will of God, confesses that he had to learn the lesson of appreciating and appropriating satisfaction in Christ. From all this it appears that in meeting our needs, God at times demands our co-operation to make His giving effective.

Before we begin, too glibly, to claim as our own the wealth of this promise, we should notice to whom the words were first addressed. Instead [94/95] of emphasising the first personal pronoun, "My", we can perhaps emphasise the second, "Your". Of whom and to whom was Paul speaking? It was to a praying people -- "through your prayer" (1:19). It was to a witnessing people -- "Holding forth the word of life" (2:16). It was to a spiritually eager people -- "We look for the Saviour" (3:20). And it was to a generous people -- "You sent once and again unto my necessity" (4:16). While it is true that we can never earn or merit God's blessings, we can put ourselves in the way of blessing by our love and obedience. To the praying, witnessing, aspiring and giving Christians, Paul has no hesitation in saying: "My God will supply all your needs".

One further comment is relevant; it is that God's resources are ministered to us in accordance with His own very high standard. If our verse had declared that He would meet all our needs out of His resources, that would be true but would come far short of the full truth. It is not just 'out of' but 'according to' His glorious riches, a phrase which suggests to us that God will deal with us on a very munificent scale, in keeping with His own infinite wealth in Christ. If King Solomon had sent the Queen of Sheba away with just what she asked for, his gift would certainly have come out of his riches, but might not have been on a scale worthy of his greatness. He did more. He gave her gifts worthy of his own wealthy status -- what is called, "his royal bounty" (1 Kings 10:13). That was "according to his riches ...", and that was how he gave. This is a small illustration of how Paul's God gives. He meets our needs, not just according to those needs nor even according to our expectations, but "according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". He keeps in mind His own dignity and majesty when He provides for our needs. Every believer can enjoy something of God's "royal bounty".

The more we read of Paul's God, the more grateful we are that He is also our God. We join with the apostle in his summing up of the whole matter: "To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen!"

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