GOD’S WORDS OF PROVISIONS

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” – Psalm 23:1

There will be no lack to whoever believes and walks in obedience to GOD’S WORDS of PROVISIONS: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psa.23:1). To “lack” or “want” is to suffer inadequacy, scarcity, insufficiency, famine, drought, or poverty; to be deprived of something that’s very important to one’s happiness, satisfaction and fulfilment in life. When the LORD is our Shepherd, all of our provisions are guaranteed in Him: “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack ANY GOOD THING” (Psa.34:10). David again wrote: “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psa.37:25).

A good shepherd will always supply all of the needs of the sheep that are in its best interest. All through the ages the devil has tried to portray God as a begrudging giver. Satan desires to deceive those who trust in God to believe they are deprived of the good things in life. This is the picture Satan tried to paint in suggesting that God had withheld the fruit of every tree of the garden from Adam and Eve (Gen.3:1). He also portrayed God as a reluctant giver in the temptation of our Lord (Mt.4: 1-11). The reality is that, to have God as our Shepherd is indeed to have everything we want (Psa.73: 25-26).

God faithfully provided the needs of His people during their years in the wilderness: “For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand….These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have LACKED NOTHING” (Dt.2:7). They also had His assurance that they would lack nothing in Canaan: “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land…a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which YOU WILL LACK NOTHING…” (Dt.8: 7-9).

Quite often, lack is not just a function of our physical or social status; much more, it’s a function of our mind – Whether we possess a mind-set of abundance or lack! God is a God of abundance, and His goodness is universal, but the blight of sin has blinded the minds of multitudes, and left them struggling in the quagmire of poverty.

Our Lord Jesus says concerning material provisions: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?” (Lk.12: 22-24). When we believe the Lord and follow His plans and purposes for our lives, He ensures that our needs are met. God’s Plans for our material provisions include the following:

Seeking God above all else: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33)

Following the Shepherd willingly: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” (Isa.1:19).

Diligence and dignity in labour: “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Pro.10:4).

Fear of the Lord: “…Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever” (Psa.112: 1-3).

Giving: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Lk.6:38). And, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35b).

As you commit yourself to God and His Word, the yoke of lack is broken in your life...“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:19).