Philippians 28: Trusting God With All Our Needs

Philippians 28: Trusting God With All Our Needs

“I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:18-20)

This post and the last one go together, because they both unpack the same passage that is all about provision, generosity and contentment. We’ve seen that contentment comes from trusting God, knowing that He will provide for us whatever our circumstances; now we see how contentment should spill over into generosity. Philippians chapter 4 paints a picture of provision, contentment and generosity as a virtuous cycle – they go together.

Paul might be in jail, but he is still able to exhibit a grateful mindset, declaring himself to be ‘amply supplied’ thanks to the gifts sent by the Philippians. It’s a good job he’s learned the secret of being content whatever the circumstances (v. 12), because these weren’t exactly the best conditions to find yourself in.

But after thanking the Philippians for their gifts, Paul goes on to say, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” (v. 19) He who had learnt to trust God’s provision could say this with full confidence, and he’s doing his best to pass on that confidence.

We can be confident that God will supply all our needs, like He did for Paul in prison, like He did for the Philippians. His provision comes from the ‘riches of His glory in Christ Jesus’ – everything belongs to God (Psalm 24:1), He has limitless resources – so why would we ever doubt whether He can give us what we need? I might not have all that I want, but after four decades living on this earth I can say as confidently as Paul that God has always met all of my needs.

It’s also notable how this provision of God follows after the generosity of the Philippians. Not that He wasn’t taking care of them before, of course, but there does seem to be a Biblical pattern of God providing especially for those who are generous. “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed,” according to Proverbs 11:25. In 2 Corinthians 9:8, Paul puts it like this: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

See that virtuous cycle at work? God gives us what we need to be generous, and when we’ve been generous, He’ll provide more so we can be generous again, and so on and on. Isn’t it wonderful how we can’t exhaust God’s goodness, and no amount of giving to others should make us worry that suddenly God can’t replenish us. The only way to break this cycle is to be stingy and keep God’s blessings to yourself without passing them on.

This passage teaches us to give generously and to accept readily. You can’t be generous if others aren’t willing to accept things from you, and likewise, if you refuse to accept a free-given gift, whether of time, treasure or talent, you’re denying that person an opportunity to be generous (or, as Paul puts it in v. 17, what can be ‘credited to your account’). Generosity and acceptance go together – you can’t have one without the other – and if we’re all doing both, then we can all grow in both the grace of giving and the contentment that comes from trusting God’s provision.

And it all results in glory, honour and praise being given to God, hence verse 20: “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

That’s a wonderful note to leave Philippians on. There’s only three more verses, two of greetings and one of grace, and so, after four chapters and 28 blog-posts, this series is finished. I hope you’ve enjoyed it, that it has blessed you somehow. If it has, please share it with others, and come back soon, because there’ll be more Biblical content coming on this blog in 2024.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Christmas. God bless.

Key takeaway: God’s provision is sure so our giving can be confident.

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Photo by Aida L on Unsplash