At Thanksgiving, we take pause and thank God for His good gifts. But here’s an honest question for you: do you really believe God is able and eager to meet all of your needs?

Most people would say yes. But when difficulty comes, problems arise, and sorrow strikes, we often wonder where God is and how we can trust Him. But the Lord is not only capable of meeting all our needs, He is also able to satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.

We need to learn how to focus on our faith when we are under trial. God is committed to meeting our needs, but first He wants to know that we are committed to living our lives for Him.

Jesus Instructions

Jesus told His disciples not to worry. He admonished them to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). This is a promise, a commitment, a pledge of action that we can claim. Jesus was telling His followers they were to set their hearts on God and His kingdom, and then every need and desire they had would be met.

The value of any commitment is based upon two things:

1. The ability of the promise maker to fulfill the promise.
2. The integrity of the promise maker, whether he has the character to follow through on the promise.

God Fulfills His Promises

God certainly qualifies on both accounts. He has all the wisdom, power, and ability necessary to fulfill His promises to us. He also has proven integrity—He always keeps His promises. He is utterly faithful to His Word. He is holy and immutable; He is unchanging. His commandments, statutes, and promises have not changed; they reflect our unchanging God. He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

When you have an unmet need, the first thing you need to do is pray and tell the Lord what you are facing. Prayer is an act of faith. It declares your trust in God and His ability. Many times, He allows a need to come so that He can teach you to trust Him in a great way. No problem is too complicated or too difficult for Him to handle.

Jesus pledged that God would meet your needs when you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” This means that He is obligated to meet your needs when you faithfully obey and trust Him. When you are walking in step with Him, He assumes full responsibility for the answers to your needs, problems, challenges, and circumstances of life.

But there is a catch: He does this according to His will, purpose, plan, and timing. And meeting needs does not necessarily mean meeting every desire that we have. He may choose to answer our prayers quickly, or He may wait for a season. Regardless, when the answer comes, it will be perfect, and it will encourage us.

One of God’s greatest desires is for us to learn to trust His wisdom and timing. Do you have a preconceived idea about how He must act to meet your needs or whom He may use to meet them? Anytime we expect God to move a certain way, we have missed the deeper lesson that He wants us to learn.

The Larger Lesson

Faith requires complete trust in Him, even when we do not understand why He has allowed circumstances to unfold a certain way. Think of all the people in the Bible who trusted the Lord and gained a wondrous victory: Moses, David, Esther, Jeremiah, Elijah, the disciples, Mary, and many more. We should never obey Him merely to manipulate our situation. God knows our hearts. When we are surrendered to Him, He sees our devotion and goes to work on our behalf.

God calls us to trust Him, and Him alone, to meet our needs and to be our total source of supply. Furthermore, the Lord requires that we obey Him as part of our trusting Him. Therefore, tell Him, “Lord, I trust You completely to meet my needs in Your timing and according to Your methods. I want to lay down my selfish hopes, dreams, and desires. Mold these so that they represent Your will for my life. And I will continue to obey You, by the power of Your Spirit, believing that as I do, You will take care of me.”

You can count on God’s love, wisdom, power, and grace. He has never failed you. He is the God who cares, and He will provide what you need at just the right time. And when He does, it will be abundantly beyond all you imagined.

Question to Consider

Read Job 42:7–17. Do you really believe God is able and eager to meet all of your needs?

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Content in this article taken from the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible.

The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, with over a million sold to date, is designed to lead believers into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, and to help them experience the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love. The updated second edition is the best way to experience this bestselling classic—with a completely new design featuring Thomas Nelson’s NKJV easy-to-read Comfort Print typeface, 100 specially designed maps and charts that bring biblical places and themes to life, and over 43,000 cross references to enrich your study of the Word.