“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” - Philippians 4:19
This is a more challenging faith exercise.
Knowing and trusting that God will provide can sometimes be super hard.
Believing that He won’t let you starve or run out of gas or go destitute is often grounds for much worry and panic. But He won’t. If you belong to God, you have to understand that He only wants good things for you and for you to suffer or be hurt, hurts Him too.
A way to see how God will provide no matter what, is to let Him.
The best way, possibly the only way to see this, is by letting your resources run dry. Instead of going grocery shopping or stocking your fridge “just in case” let it go empty. It’s a lot easier if you cannot restock your supply and essentially HAVE TO run out of food, but you can choose to wait for God to show up and provide for you and if He knows that you are looking for His providence, He will come through.
Sometimes He’ll knock your socks off and give you a whole supply of unexpected goods.
Other times He will bring you only what you need in that moment in order to teach you that His grace is sufficient for you. Either way, He will show up and He will not let you starve.
The key to this faith exercise is prayer and asking Him to provide. He knows already what you need, but prayer is for asking and He tells us to and it gives you faith in knowing that He always hears your prayers and is ever ready to be there for you in times of need.
I learned this exercise not because I wanted to but because I was out of resources many times because of my own lack of life skills and responsible planning. I would be desperate and anxious and pouting that I was going to starve to death, but I was trying to stop taking matters into my own hands by hustling or borrowing or begging or pilfering and so I would wait and wait and wait and pray my pouty prayers that He would show up with something for me that I could eat and He always would.
Sometimes it would be a neighbor bringing me lunch. Sometimes a donated chicken left over from my work places Saturday night BBQ. Sometimes He would leave me food from guests at the Air BnB that I worked at and I would have food for a whole week.
One really memorable time, I was at work and the after-school teacher from the Christian Academy I was working at came all the way downstairs to where I was working and cleaning and handed me a school lunch like it was just the most normal thing ever. That was pretty cool since I was hungry and hadn’t even really asked for Him to provide that day. I was planning on riding it out but He sent this teacher to feed me.
Ultimately, it’s about letting yourself get to the point of need and not figuring out a way to do for yourself what God would gladly do for you just to show you He’s there and aware and won’t ever let you down.
It’s a faith exercise that is easy to do when you’re broke or struggling or in a tight situation. But it can be done intentionally too. Leave home without your wallet and don’t plan where your next meal is coming from. And don’t cave!!!
Being a little hungry is kind of the point when you’re learning how to stretch your faith and grow your trust muscles. For me, I had to learn how to not manipulate my situation because of my fear or my bad money management or my old sinful self that would steal a little here or a little there in order to have what I thought I needed. It was hard sometimes, but I broke some really bad habits and I overcame some fears about whether or not God cared if I starved or not. And above anything else, it showed me God’s character in action. That He does care. That He is ever present. And that He loves to provide for His children, even if they have no food because they didn’t know how to manage money or be responsible yet. Amazing!!!