by John F. Kendall

Created on: August 21, 2009   Last Updated: September 01, 2009

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.

One Sunday, while sitting in the adult Bible study class, I had the occasion to hear the study leader make the statement that we of the First World were thoughtlessly greedy. He went on to explain that we used up 90% of the world's resources while the Second and Third World were left to manage on only 10% of what the world had or produced. This was, and is, a popular sentiment of many Christians so I asked him:

Do you think we should share everything equally?

Yes, he said and others nodded their heads, Don't you?

I think it is a nice idea, I replied, but let me get this straight Are you willing to reduce your lifestyle by about 60%?

The study leader and the others were caught off guard. What do you mean? he asked.

I explained to him a simple mathematical truth. If there are three worlds and we share 100% equally, then that would mean that each sector would get approximately 33%. This meant, in turn that the 90% we were currently using would fall by about 60% to make everything fair. This was not a popular idea amongst the group.

But we have to do something

One of the great problems faced by our society is that need is all too often equated with goods or cash. Indeed, there are thousands of people who think that if we just throw money at a problem it will be solved. God isn't like that. He, in His wisdom, knows exactly what each person needs and is able to provide it. He knows that, in ourselves, we will never be able to produce enough to satisfy the world's population. In reality we don't even comprehend what all of those needs are or what is needed to satisfy them.

This does not mean that we should sit back and do nothing but it does mean that we must start by acknowledging that it is the Lord who has the unspeakable riches in glory. If we show that we are sincere in helping others or seeking aid for ourselves, He has the bounty to cover it all. Our part is to be willing to take direction, do all we can out of love, and trust God for the rest.

Although many Christians see the validity of God's word and know that it must be studied, too few understand what faith is and the role it plays in this process. The Bible isn't a book of spells or magic answers. It exists for three main reasons: to give praise to God, to give us moral and ethical instruction, and to help us understand the nature and purpose of God in this world.

Too many Christians think of faith as some sort of unreasonable or mindless activity such as the much-touted leap of faith. In reality, faith is very commonplace and very reasonable. All of us sit on chairs, drive cars, expect the sun to rise, and trust in a host of other things on faith. Science may tell us the how or why but most people know that it is in the nature and the purpose of the chair to hold us up. It is gravity's fundamental nature and purpose [i.e. outworking] to make the earth stay in orbit. Light travels in a straight line. God wants his people to trust in Himself and what He has made including our ability to reason out problems.

There is no doubt that there are solutions to the needs of the world but Christians should be reminded that these are needs that are met not wants. If every want was met the world we know would be a much worse place than it is now. We can see this in the actions of those who steal, kill, rape, and act solely on the bases of their own wants.

This then is the wonder of things: God can and will satisfy our needs with his riches in glory. The change will come but it is often on His schedule. After all, the first need is to change the human heart and that is no small feat on its own.

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