And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:19-20)
I once knew a woman named Elodia who had a lot of needs. She lived in an old trailer. In the winter, the pipes would freeze, and she would go weeks without water. She lived on $400 a month for her and her two sons. She had nothing, except the most intimate faith in Jesus I’ve ever seen. Whenever she heard the name “God” or “Jesus,” she would get a big smile on her face, and she would say, “My Jesus. My Jesus.” And I would think, “Can you teach me to believe like that?” She had nothing, and yet she had everything she needed.
Somewhere along the way, Elodia must have learned the equation we heard about earlier in Philippians: Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Having nothing in this life is okay. In fact, God likes to teach us that the only way to receive his grace is with nothing. If all you have is nothing, that’s all you really need.
Do you have nothing? Nothing might be what you need most. When we think about Jesus, the devil gets us to think like this: “Jesus and.” “Jesus and good health. Then I’ll be happy. Jesus and money. Then I’ll be happy. Jesus and peace. Then I’ll be happy. Jesus and my way. Then I’ll be happy.” It’s always Jesus and, right? But when it’s Jesus and, where is our hope always placed? In the and. That’s not faith. That’s sin! Can you see that? Who is it who meets all our needs? God. God meets all our needs in Jesus.
Maybe that’s why God sometimes let us fall to a place where we feel like we have nothing. Maybe that’s why God sometimes lets everything get stripped away. Maybe that’s why God lets us suffer loss. Maybe that’s why God makes us go through so much we don’t want to face. So that we learn the Bible’s most important lesson: “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Grace. Peace. Life. Forgiveness. Everything. Who meets all our needs? God.
Like Elodia, may we say, “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Dear Lord God, the devil gets us to think that we need you and _____. We don’t. We just need you. As you have promised, may you meet all our needs according to your grace in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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