II Corinthians 3:4,5:
And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.
God as our Father desires to take care of His children. He never intended for us to be sufficient of ourselves, trying to figure life out on our own. As our loving Father, He knows best how we can live life to the fullest in every category. He wants us to recognize Him as our sufficiency in all things. This is His part of the relationship. He supplies and never comes short or late. But we have a part in this relationship as well—we trust. In our relationship with God, as we do our part and wholly trust in Him, He will bountifully supply every need so that we can lead fruitful lives.
God is able and willing to provide for us in our relationship with Him. He wants us to have what we need, lacking nothing.
Psalms 84:11:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
God is willing and desires to provide for His children. Just as the sun with its perfect position and components supplies us with life-giving heat, light, and energy, God supplies all our need. Without the sun and without our God, we would not exist. As a loving Father, He will not withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly or, stated in the positive, He will give every good thing to them that walk uprightly.
Not only is our God willing but He is also able. In Genesis 17:1 it says, “…I am the Almighty God [El Shaddai].” When we read His Word, we see that God is an all-powerful God with every resource for every believer. Jeremiah 32:27 reads, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Psalms 145:3 tells us, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.” Ephesians 3:20 says He “is able to do….” Our God is all-powerful, great, and able to provide every resource for every believer.
His part in the relationship is that He is able and willing to be our sufficiency. As a loving Father, He wants to care for His children. No matter how difficult the situation, God supplies.
II Corinthians 9:8:
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
We do our part by believing that God is able and willing to supply our every need as we trust in Him and expect to receive the best from Him.
When challenges arise, we can be tempted to lose sight of God’s solutions and turn to five-senses or worldly solutions. But these don’t provide the best solutions. They’re broken and “hold no water,” like the cisterns Jeremiah spoke of:
Jeremiah 2:13:
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
God is the fountain of living waters!
I remember a time when I was overwhelmed with the challenge of moving and all that went with it. I would need to get a job and leave my three-year-old in day care, which I did not want to do. The more I looked at the problem, the more anxious I became.
Not liking this feeling, I pulled my thoughts back to the Word. Philippians 4:6 says to be careful, or be anxious, for nothing, but rather make your requests known unto God. I Peter 5:7 tells us to cast all our care upon Him because He cares for us. I did believe that the move was God’s will and that since it was God’s will, everyone involved would prosper.
When we got to our new area, I opened the phone book, called a Christian preschool, and they hired me on the spot for a good wage. They were looking for someone to teach the three-year-olds. They said my daughter could be in my class with me—for free. I got to teach a children’s fellowship to the whole school twice a week, and they hired two other women who also were followers of The Way. It was a great avenue for outreach, and everyone prospered. God had the best for us; I just needed to trust in Him.
God says His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8,9). Ephesians 3:20 says that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” We may not have all the answers in life, but we can go to the One Who does. This is the kind of life God wants for us. And He desires a relationship with us in which we freely go to Him, willing to receive. Trusting in God—no matter what the challenges—allows Him to give us the best solutions so we can abound in life.
God supplies as we trust in Him. He wants to take care of us so we can live life to the fullest. He is our all-powerful God, able, willing, and desiring to supply our need bountifully. As we trust in Him and seek Him first in all things, we allow Him to supply our need in ways beyond what we alone can think or do. We will not be disappointed in our expectations as we abound in all things, being abundantly fruitful and giving the glory to Him. What a fun way to live with our heavenly Father Who is our sufficiency. Let’s leave our broken cisterns and allow God to do His part as we confidently trust in Him, the fountain of living waters.