"Look at the birds in the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" -Matthew 6:26
First, I will be looking at what the world thinks we need. See, the thing about necessity is that God and the world have two very different views on necessity. The world thinks that the only necessities are food, water, shelter, clothing, and then once you have those things you'd have to worry about getting a job, and having money, etc. Now, these things aren't bad. In fact, we are told to work. Proverbs 6:6- says, "Go to the ant oh sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. (7) Without having a chief, officer, or ruler, (8) she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in the harvest." Matthew 6:26 isn't talking about how we shouldn't work, but about how we shouldn't worry about what's going to happen to us. Yes, God will help take care of us, but, let's say God gives you an opportunity for a great job. God helped provide you with that job, but it's your job to take it and work hard. Now, does this mean that God is going to provide everyone with a job? No. That is the difference between what the world thinks we need and what God knows we need.
Paul, who was once an enemy of God, turned out to be one of the most faithful Christians who ever lived. Now, I am sure you have all heard 2 Corinthians 11:24-27, and Philippians 4:11, who were both written by Paul, but I am going to put them together, so that you can understand exactly what Paul had gone through when he wrote Philippians 4:11. "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. (25) Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; (26) on frequent journies, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger in the cities, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; (27) in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." "Not that I am speaking in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content."
The things that God says and the things that the world says we need are much different. The only thing that matters is whether or not we follow God's Word. The thing is, is that no matter how much food we have now, no matter how much clothing we have, no matter where we live, we're going to die some day anyway, so the only thing that mattes is whether or not we follow God's commandments, because the results of doing so are eternal, while the things that we have on earth will only last a few years. So next time you look at something that you don't have, remember first of all what you will have, and then look at what you do have. You have a Father in heaven who will give you whatever you need to get to heaven. That is something that everyone has.
