God is Provider, Part 3
God is Provider, Part 3
Characteristics of God, God is a Provider
Welcome to week 3 of studying God’s characteristic of provider. This week, we want to look at WHO God provides for. I figured this would be an easy answer. God provides for those who follow him. Well, I learned out it’s not as simple as that when I ran across this verse:
Matthew 5:46b: He [your Father in heaven] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
We saw in last week’s lesson that one way God provides is by sending what is needed for crops and animals to grow, which in turn provides food for humans. Both light (sun) and water (rain) are essential for this process. And God provides those things for everyone, not just those who follow him. In this way, God is the one who sustains life on earth at all levels of the food chain.
Knowing that God is the ultimate source of provision for all life, let’s look at a few others in particular who God provides for in a special way.
God Provides for Those Who Follow Him
Although God provides for all people in a way that sustains life, he provides for his people in a special way. When God provides for his people, they lack nothing. We saw in the first lesson of this series that when God provides, he does so generously. That’s the kind of provision God has for those who follow him.
We looked at God’s provision for the Israelites in the first two lessons. We see that again here:
Nehemiah 9:19-21: 19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
In particular, God gives good things to those who follow him.
Psalm 34:9-10: 9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Psalm 84:11: For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
God Provides for Those Who Honor Him with Their Wealth
When it comes to provision, money is a major topic. If we have money, we can provide for ourselves, and we think we don’t need God to provide for us. But those who honor God with their wealth earn a special measure of God’s provision.
Proverbs 3:9-10: 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Malachi 3:10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
When we honor God with our money, he provides generously for us. But we must give with the same spirit that God gives—generously and willingly. We don’t give to honor ourselves. We give to honor God.
Matthew 6:1-4: 6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
When we honor God with our wealth, we do so simply for the purpose of honoring God, not to try to manipulate him into giving us more wealth. God can see through this manipulation to the true intent of your heart.
God Provides for Those Who Seek Him and Ask
Sometimes, we don’t have things because we don’t ask. The same can be true for God’s provision.
Matthew 7:7-12: 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
God wants to give us good gifts. All we have to do is ask. But when we ask, we must seek him and his will first. This passage in Matthew 7 comes immediately after this verse:
Matthew 6:33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
If you are lacking in anything, seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, then ask God for what you need. He always gives generously to those who truly seek him.
Keep in mind, though, that God answers prayers according to his will. That’s why it’s so important to seek him first.
1 John 5:14-15: 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
If we seek God and truly want his will to be done in any situation, then our prayers will be aligned with God’s will. When we ask for what is aligned with God’s will, we know that he will provide.
God Provides for the Afflicted
God holds a special place in his heart for those who are afflicted—the poor, the widow, the captive, the sick or injured. God has promised to provide for those who are afflicted.
Psalm 146:7-9: 7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
He provides justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom for the prisoner, sight to the blind, honor for the humbled, protection for the foreigner, and sustenance for the orphan and widow. If you are struggling in some way, be assured that God has not forgotten you. He will provide in his way and in his timing.
Conclusion
Although God provides generally for all people, he provides good things generously for those who follow him, who honor him, and who seek him. He also provides in a special way for those who are afflicted and need help. This shows God’s compassion on his people. How should we respond when God provides for us? Come back next week to find out.
Premium Resources
Each individual characteristic of God study will come with two resources: a word search just for fun (including an answer key), and a list of verses for if you want to investigate that individual characteristic of God more completely.
You can access these resources by clicking here: God Is Provider Resources
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