19. God's Sovereign Supply

Chapter 19 God’s Sovereign Supply

Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing (James 1:3-4). The children of Israel angered God and spoke against Him in their wilderness trials. In Psalms 78:19-22, they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” The answer was, (Psalms 78:20) “Behold, he smote the rock so that waters gushed out and streams overflowed.” If He can get a stream out of a rock, He can supply our needs anywhere, anyhow, and we are foolish to question Him. That did not stop them. They said, (Psalms 78:20) “Can He give bread also?” God was angry when He heard this, and His wrath was kindled. These so-called believers (Psalms 78:22) “Believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation.” You see, Friends, God wants us to believe for salvation, which in this case means God’s supply, every day. If He can pay Peter’s taxes out of a fish’s mouth or bring water out of a rock, He can meet our needs in any kind of lack. They provoked God with their evil heart of unbelief when all they had to do was mix faith with His promises of provision (Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 4:3).

Early in our discipleship, we began to walk by faith for God to be our supplier so that when we went from part-time to full-time ministry it was natural to continue these methods. We have never “taken up offerings (an oxymoron),” told people our needs, preached “gimmee” sermons, borrowed money, taken government benefits, or worked at a secular job. I am not saying this to brag, but to show God’s power to provide without these methods. I also had to go this way to be qualified to teach on this subject. The Apostle Paul said, (Romans 15:18-19) “For I will not dare to speak of any things save those which Christ wrought through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, (19) in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Years ago the Lord told me, “I am sending you through a wilderness so that you can tell my people that I still supply in the wilderness.” As you can imagine, this lifestyle put us in many situations to prove His promises. The Lord wanted me to be able to speak from experience about His sovereignty to “supply your every need, according to His riches in glory,” without resorting to the legalistic manipulations that “Christendom” normally resorts to. He said, “Freely ye received, freely give.” We have received only freewill offerings sent from God through those that He spoke to. I would not have traded these wilderness experiences for anything, for they have totally impressed me with my Father. We have worked diligently in the Lord’s service, and He said the “laborer is worthy of his hire.” My pay comes from Him. This also keeps us free from the manipulations of man.

There is an advantage to knowing that God has sent you. Always seek to be in His Will. About two years after being sent to Pensacola, we had a wonderful experience. We had run out of all food in the house. My wife asked me what we should do. I told her, “Let’s set the table by faith.” So we did, and the seven of us sat down with empty plates. I prayed a simple little prayer, the only kind I know. I am sure God put this prayer in my heart. I said, “Lord you sent us here, and we are asking you to fill our plates or fill our tummies.” In a moment, my oldest son said something that I had never heard out of him before. He said, “Dad, I’m full, I don’t need to eat,” and he got up. I started looking around at the rest, and they started agreeing with him. I was so surprised listening to them that it was a minute or so before I noticed that I was full and not hungry either. Praise God! God can put food in you that you did not eat. His name is Jehovah Jireh meaning “I am Provider”!

Now I do not want you to think that we have always lived on the edge of disaster because God has supplied abundantly. However, when we were in that place of weakness, God’s power was made perfect! My children were forced to fast only once in their lives, and that instance ended in a miracle. I did not start out with the faith that I have today. It was kind of mechanical rather than natural. (Mark 11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. I would go through these steps: I pray; I believe I have received; I accept no other thought. Eventually, it becomes natural to trust in God and not have to work so hard to keep your mind straight. The proving of faith through tribulation works patience, and patience will have its perfect work so that you lack nothing (James 1:2-4). In another instance, when we once again were running out of food, Mary made a large pot of spaghetti. We blessed the food and ate our fill, which was about two-thirds of the spaghetti. The next day I was standing by the stove when Mary pulled the pot from the refrigerator to heat it up. When she took off the lid, we both looked in the pot and then at each other. I said, “This pot was down to here yesterday,” motioning with my finger on the side of the pot. She said, “Yes, I know,” and we were awed at the power and goodness of the Lord. What we had eaten the day before had been replaced. Our sovereign God multiplies food. Like the wilderness trial, there is no place that God cannot provide. My youngest child Jennifer was complaining to Mary in the washroom that her brother Nathan had taken the only bag of potato chips camping. Mary gently pushed her out telling her to go ask the Lord for some. As she did this, the doorbell rang. Jennifer yelled, “It’s here! It’s here already!” Mary came out and hushed her because she did not know who was at the door. It was a neighbor returning a pan because Mary had given them corn bread in it a few days before. He handed the pan, which had tin foil over it, to Jennifer. When she took off the foil, guess what was inside. Yes, chips! The man lived two blocks behind us. He was coming with the chips before Jennifer complained to Mary. Our sovereign God answered before she called.

Jennifer told Mary that her little wading pool was broken and she wanted another one. Mary sent her to me. She came to me with a catalog in hand. I said, “Jenny, you know where we get things from. Let’s ask the Lord.” We agreed that God would send her a pool. About a week later, a lady who lived about four blocks away came to our door. She said she was looking for two little boys who had cut her grass before. Nathan recognized her voice and came to the door. When she saw him, she said, “Oh, I see I have found the right house. I would like to make a deal with you. I have a swimming pool I would like to give to you if you could cut my grass a couple of times.” The boys agreed. The pool was a 3-foot tall by 12-foot diameter above-ground type with a sand filter, ladder, and vacuum. It was new, still in the box. She had bought it about eight months before to use as an exercise pool but had changed her mind. Sovereign God has pools around the corner just waiting for you to pray.

Once, in our own private wilderness, I decided to grow tomatoes. The bugs and the birds made war on me, and the harvest was a total flop. The Lord then told me that He did not call me to raise tomatoes and to be about the work that He did call me to do. Within a few days, a lady who knew nothing of this was picking tomatoes at a local farm when she thought to pick some for us. She brought us two large bags of the prettiest tomatoes I have ever seen. When I compared them to my little cherries, God’s point hit home. The Lord did not need my help.

Mary and I agreed in prayer one morning for meat, mayonnaise and cheese. No one knew of this. That night a lady was going out of town and brought us a gallon of mayonnaise and a turkey that she did not want to go to waste. Then another couple brought the cheese. We can be specific with God. He will prepare a table in the wilderness. My children wanted to go camping in the woods not far from our house. Making excuses, I told them that the only thing I did not like about that place was that there was no wood for a fire and we could not cut down someone else’s trees. God made me eat those unbelieving words. God will supply your needs anywhere! After we set up the tent, I sent the children out to find wood. They came back with rotten limbs and bark off a tree, nothing very usable. There was a fallen tree next to our tent but we did not have any way to cut it up. As I thought on this situation, I walked in a straight line about 20 to 30 feet away from our tent. I noticed a small hump in the leaves on the ground and casually kicked it. There was something hard underneath. I raked the leaves back to find a pillowcase and within it was God’s provision! A fairly new Husqvarna chainsaw, the very kind I liked! I thought, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if this cranked?” Of course it did, for God had put it there for us. It had been there for a while because the leaves on top looked very natural. Oh, the sovereignty of God, to put in my mind to walk straight to His predestined provision! We cut up that fallen tree and left some for the next guy. I repented for doubting God’s provision in that wilderness. My boys told me that a boy they knew camped in those woods all the time and that he had probably stolen that saw. So I called the police and gave it to them. They said that if no one claimed it within 90 days, I could have it. Even though I did not have a lot of use for it, I claimed it after the 90 days. Just after that, I had a utility bill due, with no money in my hand yet to pay it. The Lord reminded me of the saw. I called a local small engine shop. I told the man I had found the saw but before I could even ask if he knew anyone who needed it, he said, “You bring that saw over here right now, and I’ll give you $100 for it.” I got the money and went straight to pay the bill just before it was overdue. God saved me twice with that saw. That is the only time I ever sold something to pay a bill. Thank you Father!

Once when traveling and ministering, we noticed a cloud of smoke coming out the rear of our car, which had relatively few miles on it. I checked the oil and found that the car had suddenly started drinking it to the extent of using two quarts in about 50 miles. I checked the normal things and finding them all right concluded that I had broken some rings. We did not have the time nor the money to stop and get the engine overhauled. After several stops to put more oil in, I commanded the rings to be repaired in the name of Jesus. This time the car went much farther before needing oil, and after that it stopped using it entirely. Glory to God! His power was once again made perfect in our weakness as we walked by faith. (Php 4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

One day on my way to the mailbox, I remembered I had received less than the needed offering that month. Had I stopped and calculated it would have been about $200. As I walked, I asked the Lord to put it in the mailbox. He answers before we call, doesn’t He? The answer had to be coming for two or three days before I prayed. Sure enough there was a $200 money order in the mailbox, from an anonymous source. Although offerings in the mail are not very common to our ministry, God had once again come through in time.

There have been times when we needed larger sums of money. Since we did not store up our treasures on earth, and our purses waxed not old, meaning we did not save up money, then we needed manna from heaven. We prayed once to change out the windows of our house and to buy our oldest daughter Deborah a good car. Within a month, we had our answer; $16,000 was coming our way from a completely unexpected source. God has never failed us, no matter what the need.

One reason that there is such an emphasis in Christian circles on investing, buying, selling, and storing is because there is so little understanding of God’s true economy of giving and receiving. Jesus said that the last days would be like it was in Lot’s day when they bought and sold and God destroyed them (Luke 17:28-30). (Matthew 21:12) And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought…. What do you suppose Jesus had against buying and selling among His people? I believe He detested that it had replaced giving and receiving in the nature of His people. Jesus commanded us to “give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38). He promised a reward for giving but none for selling. An opportunity to give is an opportunity to receive it back multiplied. There are times when we need more cash than what we have. In order to be eligible for this multiplication we have to give, not save or invest. Several times I have sent out to someone else the money that I needed for bills only to receive it back from another source multiplied, sometimes on the same day. Curt Bryan is a brother who has always given sacrificially to our ministry. He has given testimony several times that he has written checks to pay his own bills without the money in the bank to cover it, believing God to have the money there in time. In his business his customers are walk-ins, so income is hard to predict. Whenever he has stepped out by faith in this way, God has always come through. A sudden rush of customers would come in, or a generous tip would be given to him.

(2 Corinthians 9:6) He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. An opportunity to give can also be an opportunity to sit on, or eat the seed. We can only reap to the extent we sow. God multiplies it back not to make us rich but to be channels of His blessing to the needy. He multiplies our seed for sowing, not hoarding. (2 Corinthians 9:10) And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness. God’s promise to those who are faithful in giving is here. (2 Corinthians 9:8) And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that you having always all sufficiency in everything may abound unto every good work.” This is one of the most powerful, all-encompassing promises of provision in all of the Scriptures. On the other hand, he that sits on or eats his seed will have to invest, buy, sell, and store with the world because he is disobedient and has no faith. This is where the merchants of Babylon are. They make “Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16) when they peddle the Word for salaries like the world. Peddling things such as books, tapes, trinkets, chicken dinners, and tours is the way of the world and for those who have an impoverished God. They make “merchandise of the word of God” (2 Corinthians 2:17 [in Greek]). Why would anyone who believed that “God shall supply every need” (Php 4:19) stoop to this? When God sends, He supplies. Without God’s supernatural supply, people have to resort to other tactics to support “their own” ministry.

Another tactic is to put God’s people under the law to support them when the Scripture clearly states that our giving is “not of necessity”. (2 Corinthians 9:7) Let each man do according as he has purposed in his heart (not according to law); not grudgingly, or of necessity (not according to law), for God loveth a cheerful giver. In the New Testament, God wants an offering from the heart from those born of His Spirit. God made the Old Testament Law with natural Israel, not the Church. If a doctrine, like tithing, is not in the New Testament then it was never made with us! Jesus, rebuking those under the Old Testament, said, “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cumin (even their seasoning), and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, Justice and mercy, and faith: but these you ought to have done (past tense) and not to have left the other undone” (Matthew 23:23). Jesus clearly said here that tithing was of the Law, and is in the past. Some say tithing was before the Law. Yes, circumcision and animal sacrifice were before the Law too, but they were included in the law, and we are not under law to do them anymore, either. Paul also said tithing was of the Law. (Hebrews 7:5) And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest’s office have commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law…. There is no New Testament command or request to tithe because we are no longer stewards of ten percent but one hundred percent. In the Old Testament, they were ninety percent owners and ten percent stewards. Jesus taught that we must renounce ownership of the other ninety percent or we cannot be His disciples. (Luke 4:33) So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. “All” here means “all possessions, rights, and will.” In the New Testament, either we are stewards of all or we are thieves. The widow who gave the two mites got Jesus’ attention, but all the rich Pharisees who tithed did not. That is because God counts the sacrifice and what you have left, not the amount you give. That widow sowed bountifully, not according to the Law. According to 2 Corinthians 9:8, she received “all grace” and “all sufficiency” for that. When you give, obey the New Testament commands, not the Law, and you will be blessed. None of the great promises above are for those under the Law. When we disobey a New Testament command to obey a law, we have to keep the whole law in order to be justified. (Galatians 3:10) For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.

We are severed from Christ when we hear and obey the law instead of Him. (Galatians 5:4) Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace. Notice these commands. (1 John 3:17) But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? (Luke 6:30) Give to every one that asketh thee…. Many ignore the Lord’s commands and pass up the needy in order to keep the law of “bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse.” Of course, every religion tells its people that they are the New Testament storehouse. Wrong! The storehouse was in the temple (Mark 12:41; 1 Kings 7:51), and God’s people are the temple. Jesus will ask when He returns what we did for the least of His brethren (Matthew 25:40), not what we did to support legalistic religious kingdoms. Many will be rejected because they were disobedient. (Matthew 25:44-46) …Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? (45) …Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. (46) And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. All the beautiful buildings will burn, but the temple made without hands will be forever. Support it.