“Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” – Proverbs 29:18
In 1943 Robert Maslow introduced his famous “hierarchy of needs”.
Okay, don’t tune out on me here! I don’t want to give anyone PTSD flashbacks to college psychology class. There will be no quiz. However, I believe that the ideas behind this theory were divinely inspired. Maslow put this hierarchy into pyramid form and it starts at the bottom with physiological needs (sleep, food, water, etc.) and peaks at the top with self-actualization (pursuing goals, using talents, seeking happiness, etc.). Basically, he explains in his theory that once each level of the pyramid is achieved, it is human nature and the natural process to move up to the next level.
I truly believe that this hierarchy can be applied to the Christian life as well as the human condition. As we mature in Christ and move from “faith to faith” (Romans 1:17), our need set changes. This is especially true in the area of physical needs. My wife and I teach a class entitled Foundational Finances which is based upon the excellent book by Robert Morris “A Blessed Life”. In this class we discuss the idea of God meeting financial and physical needs in our life. There are certainly scriptures that illustrate God’s willingness and ability to meet these needs. Philippians 4:19 reads, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The psalmist writes in Psalms 84:11, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” What we see as we mature however is that our needs change.
When we are baby Christians, we are new to using our faith. Our ability to trust in God is still fairly untested. The level of provision we are able to believe for is pretty low starting out, and that belief directly correlates with what God can do for us. If that sounds strange to you, study it out. See how many times Jesus told people that it was according to their faith (not God’s ability) that they were healed or delivered or recipients of provision. God is always able. God’s will is always for us to prosper (John 10:10). However, God responds to our faith. He provides based on the size of our vision, and that should be our focus.
I was listening to an online sermon recently, and the speaker said “When you have no more need, you are out of vision.” This line really stuck with me. We as Christians believe, and rightly so, that God will meet all of our needs, but in reality we will always have needs. Just as Maslow pointed out in his theory, our needs will shift and change as we mature, but we will never be totally self-sufficient. God will always want us to lean on Him. He will never give us the excuse to quit having faith in His provision and trust in our own.
This really explains the primary fallacy of praying to win the lottery. I know many people who do. No matter how you feel about the morality of lottery, I believe God ignores these prayers for a whole different set of reasons. Number one, because buying tickets isn’t exactly great stewardship. More importantly however, is because the temptation to trust in your financial security and bank account instead of God. The trust in money more than God is addressed in the Bible and is called the spirit of mammon. Mammon is not money, but is the spirit of greed or the trust in money to solve the problems in your life. Being rich is not a sin. In fact, I firmly believe God gives us richly all things to enjoy (I Timothy 6:17), and that He delights in the prosperity of His servants (Psalms 35:27). However, there is a reason that Jesus taught so many parables about money. He knew how powerful the spirit of mammon can become in mankind. The real way to financial freedom is to show yourself faithful with what you have. This will lead to God trusting you with more. It is His way of making us a success.
That being said, I know from personal experience that our needs change the more we grow in Christ. When I first gave my life to God, I was using every bit of faith I had to believe for a tank of gas or money for next month’s electric bill. The stronger I became in faith and knowledge of His word, my needs were changing from that bottom level of the pyramid to more long term ideals. I started believing to get out of debt. I started believing for a house for my family. As I continue to mature, I find myself believing and standing in faith for things outside myself. My wife and I are looking for a harvest on our seed so that we can help other people’s faith and become God’s hands and feet in supplying needs for others. I see a time in the not too distant future where we will be looking to sow large seeds into ministries and doing things to advance God’s kingdom!
God has indeed met all of our needs. We aren’t anxious about if we’ll eat next week or if the power will be shut off. We still have debt we would love to eliminate. We still have a need to put some savings and additional retirement plans in place. However, we have a vision of what we’d like to see happen in our local church, in our ministry, and in the ministries that we support. We still have needs, but we are climbing up the hierarchy to things outside of “us”. Those needs will always be with us as long as we still have a vision of what God wants to accomplish and we continue to seek Him about how to be involved in it. Need is not a bad thing. Need makes us exercise our faith. Need lets us know that we still have a vision for where God wants to take us. God will indeed meet all of our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus, and as our needs climb the hierarchy, His provision grows to meet them!