by Dr. Lehman Strauss
Supply
SABILITY TO
I T is wonderful to have the assur ance of heart that God is able to supply. II Chronicles 25:9, “The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.” Many people, like the rich young ruler, do not turn to Christ because they fear that they must give up something. The truth of the matter is that the price of our sal vation has been paid in full by Jesus Christ on the cross. Salvation cost God much, but it costs the sinner nothing. Every saved person knows this. While this is a fact, there are those Christians who have not learned to trust God for their daily supply. In this portion of Scripture we see that young King Amaziah, only 25 years old when he began to reign, was con fronted with a problem which caused his people no little concern. The Edo mites, the enemies of Judah, were at tacking them. Feeling that his army was insufficient for the battle, he hired a hundred thousand trained fighters from the neighboring king dom. Each man cost him the equiva lent of about $2.50, or a grand total of some $250,000. Before Amaziah could organize his h ire d army, “Thefe came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel . . . But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy” (II Chron. 25:7, 8). King Amaziah’s first concern was for the money he had paid, a quarter of a million. He wanted to know what to do about the losses. The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.” Were you ever called upon by God to give up something? I’m not think ing of your surplus which you could
easily do without. These are the utter necessities I have in mind. You made your plans, but they were suddenly interrupted when the Lord showed you His plan. Deciding to follow Christ under such circumstances is not always easy. God is able to make up any seeming loss we sustain through giving up something for Him. Any sacrifice for Him is never a loss. Some of God’s children will never trust Him fully until they learn that the things which are seen are temporal (II Cor. 4:18). No child of God ever lost anything by trusting his heavenly Father. One trouble with many of us is that we are too like-minded. We are like the honest preacher who said, “Heaven is my home, but right now I don’t feel a bit homesick.” His congregation had just presented him with a new auto mobile. We find ways and means of getting what we want apart from prayer and utter dependence upon the Lord. Most of the things we want we don’t need. There are those who walk daily with implicit faith in God’s ability to supply all their needs. They are not content with merely singing “On ward Christian Soldiers.” They really endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Like Paul, they can say, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3 :7). Christ never failed Paul. “I have all and abound; I am full” (Phil. 4:18-19)i. There are those Christians who confess they haven’t found Philippians 4:19 to work. One reason is obvious: the promise is conditional. Those saints at Philippi had offered a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. Their devoted service had placed them in a posi tion to claim the promise. When a 11
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