‘Want’ is a Matter of Interpretation
4:11 "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."
Paul doesn’t say, "Not that I speak from want, my shelves are full of supplies." His not being in want is a matter of faith, not sight. He has experienced grave poverty (see v.12 and 2Cor.11:27), including hunger and thirst. And yet, he does not consider himself to be in want.
What’s going on here? Is Paul pulling our leg? He says he’s in poverty and yet not in want. Aren’t those basically the same thing? Buckle your seat belt; the answer to this is heavy stuff.
Paul knew that in Christ he was rich, not just in spiritual things, but in everything. He knew that the One who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, had also along with Christ freely give us ALL things (Romans 8:32). Paul knew that all the food and the water and the money in the whole world was his. He knew that everything belongs to those who themselves belong to Christ (see 1Cor.3:21–22; 2Cor.4:15).
How can Paul’s poverty be squared with his ownership of all things? It is exactly what he says about himself in 2Cor.6:10: "having nothing yet possessing all things." From all appearances Paul had nothing. But he actually possessed all things.
This is very confusing, you say? Let me illustrate by taking one small example: food. How was all the food in the world at the time of Paul his, even though he had none of it to eat as he sat there in Roman chains? All the food in the world WAS Paul’s. God had given it to him in Christ. And not only had God given it, but God was managing it for Paul (imagine how hard it would be to manage the whole supply of the world’s food if it all was suddenly given to you -- and you were sitting in a Roman prison). God did with all that food just perfectly what was in Paul’s best interests (that’s what you want a manager to do, isn’t it?). Some days God knew it would be best for Paul not to eat any of that food, so He didn’t have any brought to him. Other days God know it would be best for Paul to have plenty of food, so He made sure plenty was brought. Paul had learned to trust God. He knew that if no food came, it was not because God wasn’t providing, it was because God knew that for some reason it wouldn’t be good for Paul to eat (e.g. Deut. 8:3 “ He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”). He knew that the minute he (according to God’s wisdom) needed something, it would be there. He knew that not only did all food belong to him, but all hunger did as well.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Want is not a matter of total assets. It’s a matter of interpretation. It’s a matter of faith. It’s a matter of believing what God says about us.
One of our biggest problems is thinking of ourselves as living in want instead of as living in plenty. God wants us to think of ourselves as rich, because that is what we are in Christ. If the Lord is my shepherd, then I shall not want. If we seem to the world that we have little, it is simply not true. We have everything. Even what appears to be theirs is really ours.
O that we would trust God like Paul did! Then we would be able to obey God’s command: "In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1Thes.5:18)
Gracious Father, help me learn to interpret my trials properly. Help me not to believe the lie that my trials are against me and bound to harm me. Help me rather to remember that my trials are Your servants sent for my good. When I don’t have what I want, help me to remember that all things are mine since I am Christ’s, and to rejoice in all things, even the ones I don’t have here in my possession at the moment. Help me to glory in my riches in Christ Jesus. When it seems that I have nothing, help me remember that I possess all things.