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My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19, NIV).
God provides. We know that, but God’s provision often comes with a task.
Becoming a generous person through obedience allows us to walk in supernatural provision. He wants us to be generous, whether our bank account totals $100 or $100,000.
But remember—obedience before provision.
Obedience…
A specific prayer that my wife and I had for our children was for them to attend college and then graduate with no debt. As a minister with three children, a house, a car payment, and all the other bills, we knew this request required God’s riches.
The church I pastored was moving from one location to another.
We assembled our members, asking them to give sacrificially so we could move to the new building with little debt. I was hesitant to make a pledge because I had a daughter about to enter college, another already in college, and a son in high school.
My conversation with God was, “Lord, my daughter wants to attend the local college. The tuition is $25,000 a year, so how can I afford to give much of anything to the church’s ‘move’ fund?”
God responded, “Since you are so concerned about your daughter’s tuition to this college, you are to pledge a full year’s tuition and let Me provide.”
I thought, “A full year’s tuition. That’s $25,000! I wish my daughter was attending the much cheaper community college!”
My wife and I made and kept the pledge, and God provided abundantly. Let me share one of those stories.
Provision…
I knew the registrar of the college my daughter was entering. Not well, but good enough for him to answer my phone call.
I said to him, “My daughter wants to attend your college. I know the tuition is $25,000 a year. Is there any financial aid the college can extend to help?”
His exact words, “I have your daughter’s application on my desk, and I was reading it as you called.”
Let’s pause—can you sense a God moment?
He continued, “I see that she has traveled to Russia several times (she went with me on mission trips), and we want well-rounded students. I’m going to nominate her for the Presidential Scholarship.”
I thanked him, hung up the phone, and had no idea what receiving a Presidential Scholarship meant.
A week later, we attended my daughter’s high school graduation. At that time, statistically, her class was the highest-achieving academic class in the history of the school. Thus, the superintendent of the school system stood to read a long list of graduates who were receiving scholarships.
$1,000, $3,500, $1,500, $5,000, $2,500, $15,000, $8,000, $20,000—on and on—the superintendent read a student’s name and then the amount. But my daughter’s name wasn’t mentioned until the very end, when…
The superintendent said, “We would like to announce the Presidential Scholarship for Emily Edwards in the amount of $75,000.”
Obedience and then provision…
My wife and I were stunned. Until that moment, we had no idea!
God provides!