How God DIDN’T provide for Jesus… and what that teaches us

Have you ever asked God to provide something for you?

You pray and wait, and wait and pray some more. We all need God’s provision in some way, but sometimes his ways of providing and especially his timing seem mysterious. In this post, I want to unravel one surprising way God loves to provide for us.

God’s Method of Providing
Have you ever thought about how God the Father provided for Jesus’ preaching ministry? His methods were not what we might expect.

• God could have made Jesus very rich, but he didn’t (2 Corinthians 8 v 9).
• God could have told Jesus to miraculously multiply fish and loaves of bread for every meal, but he didn’t (Mark 6 v 41-44).
• God could have instructed Jesus’ disciples to go fishing every day, fill their nets, and then sell their catch, but he didn’t (John 21 v 6). God could have had Peter continue to catch fish with coins stuck in their mouths, but he didn’t (Matthew 17 v 27).
• God could have led Jesus to effortlessly turn tap water into the best vintage wine and make a mint bottling and selling it, but he didn’t (John 2:1-10)

From the Bible we learn that most of the money for Jesus’ ministry came from three generous women named Mary, Joanna, and Susanna, “helping to support them out of their own means” (Luke 8 v 1-3).

What? No miracles? No unexpected checks in the mail or knocks at the door, but real women with names and bank accounts? Yes. God’s chosen method of providing for his son was to call a few women to give very generously. Wow!

Here’s the thing: God uses generous people to advance the gospel. Just like Jesus, the apostle Paul had generous ministry partners. One of them was Phoebe. The Bible tells us about Phoebe, saying:
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae … she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.” (Romans 16 v 1-2, ESV)

Phoebe was a generous supporter of Paul’s ministry. She’s what I call a Gospel Patron. Throughout history God has raised up many Gospel Patrons like Phoebe to be strategic partners for those who preach the gospel. I define Gospel Patrons like this:
“Gospel Patrons are people who resource and come alongside others to help them proclaim the gospel.”

Phoebe was one of the first Gospel Patrons, but many others have found their roles as Gospel Patrons and consequently resourced some of the greatest movements of God. These are some of the fascinating unsung heroes of church history who inspired my book Gospel Patrons.

• William Tyndale‘s first translation of the English Bible was funded by a cloth merchant named Humphrey Monmouth.
• George Whitefield‘s extraordinary evangelistic efforts were backed by a rich aristocratic woman named Lady Huntingdon.
• John Newton‘s publication of Amazing Grace and his pastoral ministry were underwritten by the wealthiest businessman in England, John Thornton.
• William Carey went to India and sparked the modern missions movement knowing that he had Andrew Fuller holding the ropes.
• Hudson Taylor launched into China as a pioneer missionary with the help of a starch manufacturer named William Berger.

The Bible and history show that God’s preferred way of providing is through inviting his people to be generous. If you’re in that spot right now where you’re praying and waiting for a miracle, most likely God’s provision will come through a generous person. This is how God likes to work—through people surrendered to him.

God’s preferred way of providing is through inviting his people to be generous.

One Body, Many Members
What this shows me is that God delights in Gospel Patrons playing their part. It’s his design to gift some people in business and give them success in making-money, not so they can accumulate more, but so they can “be rich in good deeds … be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy 6 v 18).

Business people are not somehow second-class Christians because they are not preachers or missionaries. There is no one-size-fits-all mold for faithful Christians. We are one diverse body with many members and the Bible tells us that “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (1 Corinthians 12 v 18).

So if you’re in business here’s my encouragement to you: Make knowing and serving Jesus your main passion, even while most of your hours in the week will be spent building your business. Your vocation is always to be a minister of the gospel; your occupation is your platform and pulpit. Lastly, look for ways to come alongside the ministry of someone else as their Gospel Patron. Your generosity will lead to great freedom and joy in your own life and great blessing for many others.

But of course, this isn’t only for the wealthy. For all of us, the one thing worth giving our lives, our money, and our best efforts for is the one who loved us and gave himself for us.

Find out more about Gospel Patrons from history in John Rinehart’s book, Gospel Patrons: People whose generosity changed the world.

A version of this blog originally appeared at www.johnwrinehart.com.