When Amy Carmichael was just a young girl, she would look in the mirror sadly at her brown eyes, then include the following request in her nightly prayers, “God, please make my eyes blue tonight.”   For weeks, she would awake every morning, jump out of bed and run to the mirror in anticipation.  She would always be disappointed to see those same brown eyes staring back at her.  

Later in life, when God called Amy to be a missionary to India, it was only then that she realized something.  Her brown eyes were actually a gift, a true blessing.  You see, had her eyes been blue, she would have had a much more difficult time gaining acceptance from the people of India as she tried to reach them for Christ.

Wow, God had thought of everything!  He knew exactly what Amy needed and had already provided her with those perfect brown eyes, long before she even realized that eye color was best!

That’s just like God.  He promises us in Philippians 4:19 that He will supply all of our needs, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  He doesn’t promise us what we want, but just what we need.  We must trust in His promise at all times, even when sometimes (like Amy Carmichael) we don’t understand.

Throughout scripture, this promise of God’s provision is played out and carried out again and again, sometimes with people who didn’t understand at the time, either.  For example:

• The children of Israel were given food from the sky each morning, navigation from a moving cloud during the day and warmth from a fire in the sky at night. God also went on to part the Red Sea for the Israelites and would ultimately provide for His people the PROMISED Land.
• With Elijah the prophet not knowing where he would find his next meal, God sent ravens to deliver food to him.
• Abraham was provided a lamb from the thicket to be the sacrifice on the mountain, sparing his son, Isaac.
• God provided a way of escape for Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus whenever King Herod attempted to kill all the baby boys (fearing one of them would grow up to challenge his throne).
• Through the many miracles of Jesus (healing, life, food, etc.) intervention was provided to those who needed it. Jesus also controlled nature, cast out evil spirits and raised the dead, in every case to provide for those who were in need.
• As sinners in urgent need of a Savior, those who accept Christ are provided salvation through the perfect work of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for our sins.
• God is even now preparing a place for His children, ultimately planning to provide for our needs throughout eternity.

The list could easily go on.  Without a doubt, God is the ultimate provision for all of our needs.  He has a 100% track record of keeping His Word.  May this promise serve to increase our faith in a Heavenly Father who will never let us down.   That’s exactly what we need!  

Matthew 6:25-30

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  And why do you worry about clothes?

See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?