Provision 2025

Provision in a Broken World

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Never make a permanent decision over a temporary situation.

The world operates on systems—banking, judicial, political, etc. We live in a broken world, and its systems reflect that brokenness. When these systems fail, it can be easy to be discouraged, disheartened, and distracted. The key is learning how to rise above these challenges.

Discussion Point #1:
How do we rise above the broken systems of this world? How can we hold onto His promise of peace when life feels uncertain or discouraging?

John 17:15-16 [AMP] ¹⁵I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but that You keep them and protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

John 16:33 [AMP] ³³I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

Even though the world is broken, Jesus makes it clear that we are in this world, but we are not of it. He has already overcome the world, and in Him we can have peace that no earthly system can provide. We are called to be set apart.

We cannot work a system that was never made for us or for our benefit. The same is true for biblical principles. God may still bless us while we are in the world, but there is a difference between working the system and working where God wants us to be. When we are where God has placed us, the blessing will follow—because biblical principles are not systems. They are truth. And when we live by truth, obedience, and God’s principles, the blessing naturally follows.

Discussion Point #2:
What happens when we rely on systems instead of God’s truth? How can obedience position us to experience His blessing?

John 15:15–16 [AMP] ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. ¹⁶You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.

Even in a broken world, God has chosen and appointed us—not to be enslaved to the systems of this world, but to bear lasting fruit for His Kingdom. His principles bring life and blessing wherever He has placed us.

The world cannot love us because we do not belong to it. If we are not of the world, then the world’s systems will not work for us. Hate and love cannot coexist, and the systems built by a fallen world will always be flawed when applied to those who follow Christ.

Discussion Point #3:
How does being “not of the world” affect the way we experience worldly systems?

John 15:18–20 [AMP] ¹⁸“If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you. ²⁰Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

John 16:33 [AMP] ³³I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

God overcame the world—which means He overcame the world’s systems. If God has overcome them, then we can overcome them too. In that truth, there is hope!

Romans 8:37 [AMP] ³⁷Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].

Jeremiah 29:11 [AMP] ¹¹For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Even in a broken world, we are more than conquerors because of Jesus. The world may fail, systems may falter, but in Christ there is hope, victory, and peace. AMEN!