Just Enough
Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name. (Proverbs 30:8–9)
I am thankful to God that He overrules some of our prayers. Imagine for a moment if you were to say, “Lord, I want to be incredibly wealthy. I want to be as wealthy as Bill Gates. Give me billions of dollars.” For some people (probably most people) it could be the most destructive thing that could ever happen to them.
You might say, “No, it would be great.”
Would it? A lot of responsibility would come with those billions, as well as a lot of temptation you might not be facing right now.
For example, what if you were to give a child everything he or she wanted? That child would become spoiled, undisciplined, and hyperactive—and you would live to regret it.
That is why the writer of Proverbs said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name” (30:8–9).
I love that. The writer isn’t saying, “Lord, make me rich.” Rather, he’s saying, “Lord, I just want your will for my life. Whatever you think I need, that is good with me.”
God knows what is good for us. He knows what we need, and He knows what we don’t need. Philippians 4:19 tells us that God “will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
Notice this verse doesn’t say that God shall supply all our greeds. Nor does it say He will supply all our wants or desires. Rather, it says He will supply all our needs.
If we have our lives in balance, then we can be confident that God will provide.
Copyright © 2018 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
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