There is a church for sale near where I live. It’s a beautiful church and I would love to purchase it. What would I use it for? I can think of all kinds of ways it would be useful. It could be a church, or it could be a place to go where Christian arts could be performed, with the sole purpose of drawing closer to God. It would be a place of enjoyment but a place that would help people learn to glorify the Lord with the talents he has given. I would make it available to filmmakers, but I would be very picky as to whom I would allow to use it and what role the church would play in their film.
Or there could be some other use for this beautiful old building. At this point the possibilities are endless.
There’s one little problem: I don’t have $185,000 to purchase the building.
When I use the word “little” I’m not being sarcastic but sincerely mean “little”. You see, Paul told the Philippians that God would supply what they needed, not according to what they had, but according to God’s riches. If there’s a good reason the Lord wanted me to have that building to follow my sketchy dreams for it, he would provide the funds for it, and provide a way to maintain it. It might be hard, but what worthwhile is easy? Anything worth the effort is going to be difficult.
The point is, as God knows best, He will supply what we need to do the things He calls us to do. And that’s the biggest point of all: if God calls us to do something beyond ourselves, God will supply everything we need to do the job he calls us to do. And I’ll let you in on a secret: EVERYTHING is beyond us.
It’s our part to ask him what he’s doing and what he’d like us to join him in. It’s up to him, because in the final analysis he sees all ends and knows what we can do to glorify his name.
Gideon’s experience is a good example of God providing everything we need to do the job He wants us to do.
In Judges 7, God told Gideon he had too many men. If all the Israelites fought the enemy, then Israel would boast that they did it instead of giving God the credit. Because Gideon obeyed, even when he had doubts, God rescued Israel as the underdog and thereby taught the Israelites (and us) to trust Him.
If we trust the Lord with all our hearts and don’t lean on our own understanding, then He will lead us to do things so amazing and so beyond ourselves that people can only say, “The Lord was sure with them!”
After all, our lives are to be a witness to God’s goodness through Jesus. When we trust in Him, we become examples of the things that look impossible to us, but when God is involved, the impossible becomes possible.