God provides what we need, but he doesn’t prevent all our problems. If he prevented all our problems, he would basically be placing us in a situation in which we no longer need him.

When things are going well, we might think or feel as if we don’t need him, but that is when we truly need to choose him.

Please don’t misunderstand. God doesn’t cause problems in our lives so that we remain in a desperate-for-him position. He is too compassionate and merciful than that. When he meets our needs – even when they are needs we didn’t realize we had and he leaves gaps we’d prefer he’d fill – we get to choose whether or not we trust him, whether or not we’ll thank him, whether or not we will seek and follow him through every situation of life.