Gas, Groceries, and God

yet another day has gone by and i have once again been approached by numerous people complaining about the high prices of food and gas. while listening to one such person, it suddenly occurred to me that i had seen this very attitude within myself as of recently. i also realized that it is something that is discussed frequently from the pulpits of countless churches across our land. now, this entry is not to support the many theories out there about the possibility that we are in the end times as talked about in St. John's Revelation (as opposed to the much mispronounced "Revelations", a pet-peave of mine!), rather it is to discuss the unbibilical attitudes that are plaguing our churches. many have resorted to avoiding the news stations because they get depressed after a 15 minute session of news reports. the problem that hit me today is our reliance on everything but G-d.

Phillippians 4:19 says that G-d shall supply ALL your NEEDS. first, our supply comes from G-d. not from the government's tax rebate incentive bone that they threw us last month. yet the government acts as if we should all be lifting our hands and singing its praises for giving us back some of the money that we gave them. moreover, many Christians have been duped into doing just that. if we would take our eyes off of others for our provision, others who are limited even in what they can provide, we would be able to focus on G-d's provision and rest in Him.
second, the verse says that G-d will supply ALL. not some. ALL. that means G-d knows about (gasp) the price of gas. and He knows about the price of (gasp) food as well! He also knows what our income is. hold on to your hats here, folks. he knows how much your taxes and other deductions are and the difference between your net and gross income! i know, that's just too much, right? what's really going to bake your noodle is that He knows EXACTLY how much money you need to make it to the next pay day. so, if G-d knows all of this, do you not think that He can provide the money for the gas in your car? what about food? is He not the one who created the organisms that our food comes from? so is He not able to make sure that you have food? and even if He does not provide for you in the way you expect, is He not able to give you the grace needed to make it through hard times?

that brings us to the final thing that His Word says: all your NEEDS. that does not mean all your wants. sorry joel osteeen, but G-d is not obligated to give us a 6 bedroom mansion, nor is He obligated to give us prime rib from the choicest black angus cattle at every meal. no. He says He will meet our NEEDS. the problem is that we don't know what our needs are. we think we know. moreover, too many times the line between needs and wants becomes muddied. however, Almighty G-d, who created our bodies and our minds, knows exactly what our bodies need to function to carry out His will for our lives. He promises that He will take care of us. period.

so, the next time you watch the news, throw your head back and laugh at satan as he pitifully attempts to discourage us to take our eyes off of G-d for our provision. after all, even if we lose wealth, health, and body, if we are in Christ, then we are still better than we deserve! Aei Pistos.