God provides, and that is not up for debate. Yes, He even provides when we complain as He hears and wants to ensure that we are taken care of and that we know that it is He who provides so that we have the opportunity to bring glory to Him.
“18They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19They spoke against God, saying,
‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?’
21Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22because they did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
24and he rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.”
— Psalm 78:18-24 (ESV)
Even with the testing of and complaining to the LORD, He still gives to His people as He has promised to care for us. Yet, the LORD is also teaching us in every moment. Notice that the LORD was still angry with the people and while he did provide for them, he did so in a teaching way as we see in the later verses of the passage.
“30But before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed the strongest of them
and laid low the young men of Israel.”
— Psalm 78:30-31 (ESV)
God gave the people what they wanted and then gave them the lesson that what they want was not what they needed. There was the sense of entitlement and greed that had come over the people of Israel and God worked to ensure that there greed was dealt with according to His plan.
The LORD provides for our needs and that is what we should be asking for Him to fulfill. My needs are not generally in line with my wants. My wants will wander into the world of desires and those desires will be the products of my greed beyond what is required for survival. The bread given from the LORD is that which is to sustain me in this world. Sustenance is vastly different than my desires.
God is the provider for our needs and as He is a compassionate God, He will also bless me with my wants from time to time. Those are just that, blessings that are at the will of the LORD and not at the continued want of me. I have to be sure that I am asking for that which is needed to survive and know that through my obedience, God will provide and bless me where He sees fit and not where I do. Me asking continually for my wants as the Israelite people did, will only anger the LORD and then I am subject to His wrath.
What are you asking from the LORD? Are you working through to be given the items of your desire? What if you were to petition the LORD for your true needs and allowed Him the opportunity to bless you with more than you require as opposed to asking continually for those wants?
Trevor's Thoughts 