“But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:18-19

Here in Philippians Chapter 4, we read of a promise of provision from God to the generous first century believers who lived in Philippi. It’s a promise from the past that God will still honor for all of His children, if we will honor Him with our trust and obedience. Just as then, so also now, God will supply. How? Because He always as “it” to supply!

 Now, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to be around me much, first, I’m sorry, secondly, you probably know one of my pet peeves is unnecessary waste. “Waste not, want not” isn’t a Scripture verbatim, but there is a lot of wisdom in getting as much use out of something as possible before it becomes useless. With that said, I also realize that there is a “ditch” to this mentality. One that some hyper-environmentalists and socialist have embraced, and attempted to force on the rest of humanity. They have preached from their pulpits to young (especially) and old alike that this Earth has severely limited resources, and we are ever on the verge of depleting some necessary element to our ecosystem and only have days to make course corrections before catastrophic collapse is upon us. Again, first, I’ve read the back of The Book, this world doesn’t end that way, and secondly, it’s this kind of fear-mongering, that ironically, they accuse us of, that leads to people living in fear and below their supply means.

The cure for this misinformation concerning God’s resources and our availability to them is a Biblical understanding of the actual abundance in this world. We need a correct perspective on abundance and lack if we are ever going to be as blessed as God desires us to be in this life. The world has taught us that this Earth has limited resources, and while it is true that there is a finite amount of dirt on planet Earth, they’ve twisted this idea into a doctrine of lack. Here’s the truth—it’s not that there’s not enough in this world to go around. There is an abundance. God created this world with wisdom, right? He knew what He was doing. He put all we would ever need right here. Lack of resources isn’t the issue as to why some people go without. It’s just that so often, those who are without adequate resources are not in position to receive it. The startling spiritual truth that debunks long-standing economic principles and widely held beliefs about availability of natural resources is that there is no such thing as genuine and absolute lack in this world. Lack is just an illusion, projected by the enemy.

Now, at this point, some would be quick to argue logic derived from their formal educations and past and present experiences that there most definitely is lack. That there is only so much of any one thing on this planet at any given time. That there are non-renewable resources, and once these are used up, they aren’t available again in a lifetime, or ever. While this may be a superficial understanding of specific material resources, this understanding can and does mislead people into false concepts of scarcity. Lack of a particular resource doesn’t determine our ability to have all we could ever want or need. There is more than enough for everyone to have more than enough. God created this planet, and He is the greatest resource manager ever. He made this world with more than enough for everyone to enjoy—too much really.

The bottom line is this—there is no lack for God’s children who seek Him! Psalm 34:9-10 states, “O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”

Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.