Matthew 6:25-34 promises God will provide for His followers, yet many Christians still face poverty. Jesus also said there would always be poor people—how does this align with God's provision? Similarly, Philippians 4:6-7 promises peace to those who trust in God, but despite doing so, I haven't experienced an unshakable peace. Are these promises only for biblical times, or do they still apply today? Why don’t they seem to hold true in my experience?
The Bible warns believers against attempting to judge God's motives or methods, since our perspective will always fall short of reality. In the situations you cited, God makes promises to the believer, but to appreciate the meaning of those promises, we must understand what God intended by them.
For example, God promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob an inheritance in the land of Canaan which none of them received in their lifetime. The writer of Hebrews explains that this does not mean God wasn't faithful to His promises. It means His promises were not going to be fulfilled in one person's earthly lifetime:
Heb. 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Heb. 11:14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
Heb. 11:15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
Heb. 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.
As Hebrews reports, the patriarchs didn't receive their promises in their lifetimes, because God intends to fulfill them in the Kingdom to come after these men were resurrected. Until we reach the Kingdom, we can't judge God's faithfulness to these promises because His timeline was longer than our assumptions.
In fact, most (if not all) of the promises of God are intended to be fulfilled in our resurrected life, not in our earthly life. If we incorrectly assume God will give us everything He promised now, we will misjudge Him, which is why we shouldn't judge Him at all.
Similarly, God promises to meet a Christian's daily needs for food and clothing, but that doesn't mean Christians won't be poor. We usually have a much higher standard of "poverty" than God does. God promised that Christians will not starve to death nor walk about naked, and He is faithful to this promises. But this is a very different standard of poverty than most people have today. If we judge God as unfaithful because He doesn't give every Christian a big screen TV or a house or car, etc., then we have mischaracterized God's promise and are misjudging Him.
Similarly, when the Bible promises that we may have peace in difficult circumstances, the statement has conditions:
Phil. 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Those Christians who face difficult circumstances by bringing all their concerns to God in prayer with thanksgiving will see God respond in their hearts (over time) to bring the peace of God, but notice what this peace will accomplish in us. Paul says it will guard our hearts and minds, which means that the effect of God's peace is to leads us into greater obedience despite our trials.
So God wasn't promising us a peaceful feeling in the face of trials, but rather He promises us a willingness to obey despite the trial. Where before our trial might have led us to rebel against God because of our difficulties, the peace of God will encourage us to persevere in obedience despite the trial. We may not feel more peaceful in our situation, but we will obey with greater peace over the situation. Obeying is more important than our feelings, since obedience brings eternal reward, which is far more important than a temporary feeling of peace.
Once again, we must judge God's promises by their content, not by our wrong expectations. If you are interested in this topic, you may be pleased to know that the book of Philippians, which address' the topic of joy in the midst of suffering is avaliable on our website.
