One is All You Need

Key Verse: “You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands.” Psalm 16:5 (GNT)

I have never forgotten that Sunday morning when my dad stood up and made his statement of faith. I don’t think I ever will. 

I often have wondered how do you get that kind of faith. The kind that you can stand with feet firmly planted with absolute assurance that God is going to do what God said he would do.  No matter what. 

Oh, I know we are quick to speak God’s word and write God’s word.  We sing the hymns and we raise our hands when everything is going well. When everything is going according to our plan. When there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun is shining.

But what about when everything is falling apart? When the sky is dark and the storm clouds are rolling in? Then what? 

When you get the terrible diagnosis or you lose the job that put food on your family’s table? How quick are we to proclaim with the utmost assurance that the God we serve is going to see us through then? 

Just how firm do we stand when life hits us at full force? 

My dad had that kind of faith right up until the day he left this world.  The kind of rock solid faith he stood on no matter what.  

I admit I am quick to raise my hand that I want the kind of faith my dad had. But if I am honest, I catch myself lowering my hand slightly when I realize that you have to go through some stuff to get that kind of faith. 

My last conversation with my dad was about The Lord. His faith carried him through cancer and ushered him right into heaven. Unwavering till his last breath. 

That was the kind of faith he had that Sunday morning too. The morning we received the bad news about his good friend Sam.  The doctor’s prognosis said it didn’t look good and that there was only a slim chance that he would pull through. And as everyone in the room sat shocked processing the news, my dad stood up and was quick to agree with my pastor on Matthew 18:19 (ESV). That verse that says, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” 

Slim chance was more than enough for the God my dad served.  And the word “anything” in that verse that morning meant Sam to my dad. But Dad also added a few of his own words that morning. “What good is the word of God if we can’t stand on it in the day of trouble”.  Words that are now etched on my heart and have forever shifted how I process a difficult hopeless situation. 

When you watch someone stand in complete absolute assurance like that, it changes you. To see first hand that he never wavered to stand on that word one tiny bit. And you know what? Sam pulled through. All. The. Way. 

I am not saying that people pull through every time. But I am saying that when that kind of faith lands rock solid on a heart like my dad it is God who put it there. After all God’s word tells us, “it is God who works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13 (ESV)

We can’t even do faith and do it well on our own. My dad’s faith had been built.  Built over the years going through some hard life stuff. Built for a reason. A reason “for such a time as this.” And It was put there that Sunday morning for Sam and my church family. We all had been invited to the best front row seats in the house to watch a miracle. And from Act One to the closing curtain it was something to see. 

All dad needed that morning was one word from his God. One. He didn’t need anything else. No long sermons. No written guarantees from the doctor. It didn’t even matter if anyone else in the room believed it or not. The pastor agreed with dad so no one else really mattered. The rest was up to God. 

Sometimes one really is all you need. One Word from the One True God is enough. Every time. 

Just like when you are down to one last dollar in your bank account. God will provide you with provision and still put food on your table. (Psalms 37:25)

When the only friend you have left in the world is Jesus, He will be all you need.  He will be closer to you than any brother.  (Proverbs 18:24)

When you are down to one broken board to hold on to and your ship is going down.  You can still make it to shore safe and sound. Paul and the prisoners are proof. (Acts 27: 43-44)

When you are down to one breath between you and the flames. There is one man named Jesus who will shield you from the heat and you will come out like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego not even smelling of smoke and your hair still looking good. (Daniel 3)

When you are down to one last heartbeat between you and a den of hungry lions. God will close their mouths till you are delivered all in one piece.  (Daniel 6)

We so often allow fear, dread and doubt to tempt us to “number our census” (2 Samuel 24) just like David did. David’s victories had never come from the size of his army but from the size of His God.  

How quickly we can forget too that our victories doesn’t come from our own might or strength. Nor does it come by what we own or through our made up plans. 

If I am honest I have did what David did more times that I care to admit. I look first at what I don’t have before looking at what I do have.  First thing we all have a tendency to do at the sign of trouble is to to try and figure out in our mind how we are going to handle the problem. All before seeking God about what he is going to do. My Dad taught me to look to God first even when my hands are empty and I see no way out at all. 

So if you are down to your “only one thing” today and you are wondering if it is going to be enough.  Enough to see you through, bring you out, drift you into shore or help you persevere. 

Do what my dad did. Plant your feet and make your own statement of faith.  Go ahead and speak it out loud.  And Psalms 16:5 (GNT) is a great place to start.

“You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands.”

And through any need, fire, storm, sickness and even death, God and His word will always be enough.

Why? Because, we can stand on it in time of trouble.  Every. Single. Time.