The God Who Meets Our Needs
Like many kids growing up in the Bible belt, I was raised going to
Sunday school and church every week mainly to keep from being grounded
as my parents threatened they would do if I stayed home. I followed this
routine grudgingly for many years without ever having any genuine
experience of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t until I was a sophomore in
High School that I began to consider who God was and where I fit in
whatever it was that He was doing with man. With the help of a friend
and her family, I began to read the Bible, eventually became sure of my
salvation, and started to genuinely seek the Lord.
Now, five years and many hills and valleys later, by the Lord’s mercy I
am still seeking Him. However, without the consistent care from other
believers involved with Christian Students, I would have had no way to
maintain this seeking. During the past three years of my involvement
with Christian Students I can testify that so many of my needs both
great and small have continuously been met. For this I can only thank
and praise the Lord for His provision in the Body of Christ.
Ultimately and supremely, our greatest need is the Lord Jesus Himself.
Day by day and even moment-by-moment He is the One that we desperately
need more than anything else. Unfortunately, there are days when our
heart is drawn away from the Lord and the world lies to us, telling us
that we need other things more than we need Him. Just recently I had
this experience. For several weeks I believed the lie of the world and
neglected my most basic need of turning my heart to the Lord Jesus. My
heart was so hard that I refused to read the Bible or even pray. When I
came together with other Christians to read the Word and sing my heart
remained closed. Backslidden and far from God, my heart, it seemed,
could not be softened. However, deep down I knew that my God would find
a way to bring me back unto Himself. He always had.
He came to my rescue in a very simple way through another believer who
has helped me tremendously during my three years in Christian Students.
This believer was aware of my condition, and even though he is extremely
busy, sacrificed some of his time to talk with me one on one. Through
such a short and simple time with this Christian brother, the Lord had a
way to soften my heart to receive the encouraging words that he spoke to
me. After this fellowship, I couldn’t help but open to the Lord and
confess all of the hardness and bitterness that I had toward Him. The
Lord slowly recovered my heart and He did it through the care of other
believers in the Body of Christ.
In addition to meeting my need spiritually, the Lord has also taken care
of a countless number of practical needs by being with Christian
Students. Over the past three years, I have been the fortunate recipient
of hundreds of home cooked meals supplied by families involved with
Christian Students. Furthermore, I could write page after page of how I
have been helped to take care of so many practical needs. From servicing
my truck and lending me material possessions to giving me human advice
and just being there to listen to me, every day in so many areas of my
life the Lord has richly cared for me by being in Christian Students. By
meeting all of my needs over the past three years, He has proven His
love to me, and has convinced me of the abounding care that comes only
from surrounding myself with those that love Him.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and
all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
