Acts 20:34
Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
One of the great statements that Paul said to the church in Ephesus was that he didn’t look for others to take care of him, but his own hands ministered to his own necessities. In other words, Paul didn’t look for a handout, but he found a way with his own hands to be sure that his needs were met.
We live in days when many people feel they are entitled for others to care for their needs. You have young people who feel that everyone else should pay their college tuition. You have grown adults living with their parents instead of getting a place of their own and paying their own bills. You have the government sending checks to people who are very capable of working a job to pay their own bills. What all of this has done is it has created people with a mindset for others to care for their needs that God intended for them to provide through working with their own hands.
My parents taught me many great character traits that have helped me through life, but one of the greatest traits they taught me was that if I wanted something, I needed to work to get the money to get it myself. My parents did not help me to purchase any vehicles that I owned. They did not help me in purchasing a house. They did not give me an allowance as a child. What they did give me was the mindset to work with my own hands so that I can provide for my own needs. Am I upset that my parents didn’t help me in these areas? Absolutely not, because they did help me in these areas by teaching me to work to get these things.
One of the greatest lessons parents could teach their children is that they are entitled to do one thing, they are entitled to work to provide for their own needs. If parents stopped giving their children everything they wanted, they could teach their children how to work to get those things, and that work ethic they learn will help them for the rest of their lives.
Moreover, believers need to stop looking for others to give them things and need to start learning how to work through prayer to get their needs met by God. Too many are looking for others to fund their needs instead of looking to God to provide for their needs. You must understand that whoever you trust to provide your needs has become your god. If you trust God to provide your needs, God is your God. If you trust others to provide your needs, they have become your god. Christian, stop begging others to help you out with a need and instead beg God to provide your needs. God can do a better job providing your needs than any person can ever provide. If you had the mindset that you will work with your own hands to provide for your needs, you would be surprised how much God will care for your needs.
Furthermore, most of your needs could be provided by working with your hands to provide those needs. God often wants to see how much you are willing to work to get your needs met before He allows others to give to you. I am not at all minimizing others giving to the needs of someone, but I am stressing the point that every individual needs to have a mindset to provide for themselves. My friend, you will feel much better about yourself if you learn that you are entitled to work for what you get. If your hands have provided your needs, you will be able to look with satisfaction and say that you worked to get what you have.
