Our faith can very often feel like a big balancing act on a tightrope, and two weights are what keep us afloat. In knowing God as our provider, we are exposed to this great balancing act of seeing the blessing we now have in Christ but also seeing His lordship over areas of our lives.
When we ask God for our daily bread, we can sometimes swing over to two unhealthy extremes as we tightrope through need. We can either swing heavily on one side and think of God as a cosmic killjoy who is sick and tired of all our asking or on the opposite side, that sees God as a vending machine ready to dispense whatever we want or need.
How do we find that sweet balance in between? Matthew 7:9–11 tells us this for clarification: "Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (ESV).
The first thing we must understand is that God is not a cosmic killjoy. He is not a far-away being who does not hear our cries or sympathise with our needs. Jesus, our Lord, walked the face of this earth just as we do and experienced the same needs we do now. He knew what it was like to need money, to need food or to need rest and thus He can very well know when you need them too.
God loves to provide for you just as a father would provide for a child—or even at a greater magnitude! It's in His nature to love being your source, and He designs it that way. Psalms 23:1 says it in the best way possible: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" (ESV).
But as much as God loves providing, it's not because of who we are, but because of who He is: a loving Heavenly Father who cares for His children. And just like a godly father, our Father knows what's best for us. Why aren't you a millionaire even though you want to be very badly? It's probably because God knows it will destroy you more than help you.
God loves providing for us because it's in His very nature to be generous, kind, gentle and gracious. He makes the rain and the sun to fall on both the evil and good because He wants to, not because He has to. We are simply recipients of that goodness of God towards us.
