Everything We Need
Everything We Need
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3 NLT When I read this verse that Peter wrote over 2,000 years ago several things came to mind. The first is the credible account this man called Peter gives with his personal experience with Jesus Christ. Old Peter didn’t mince words. He said God has given us “everything we need for godly living.” That guy went through a lot in his life. It was not easy for him physically, mentally or spiritually. It was a fight to try and keep his sense of “self” until “self” failed him, and he then conceded the victory to Jesus. This allowed Jesus to prove to Peter that he had been given everything he needed to carry on and live for Christ as His disciple. I’m next reminded of Apostle Paul who was told by God, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul requested three times to be relieved of a major perceived limitation in his life. But, once again we see the message that God had given Paul everything that was needed with His grace to him, and that the “limitation” would in fact enable greatness. It did. “Everything” must have some limitations wouldn't you think? Maybe there is something missing with the word that we don’t understand? Let’s look at Webster’s definition: Everything– (pronoun) ev·ery·thing: all that exists- all that relates to the subject- all that is important - all sorts of other things I looked at Strong’s Concordance and a few other sources and they all come back saying that “everything” mentioned in the scripture is close enough to Webster to say that we can understand its meaning as accurate. The question is do we believe it? Do I believe that in every circumstance or situation I face or will ever face will be greeted by God’s all sufficiency to supply my need? That is really the question isn't it? It is not if what I’m reading is rightly understood but rather, do I believe what I’m being told is truth? I’m sure Peter and Paul had some doubts along the way until they conceded their fear of being abandoned by God and accepted His promise to always be with them and be there for them when they are in need. I think we all have to make that journey spiritually to learn to trust Him in such a way. Of course, we need to understand God has a different point of view of our life than we do. He can see further out in our life and know that something given or not given today will affect our future and the lives of others. Can we trust Him with our future? Can we trust that He knows best? Can we trust Him to know and do the right thing every time if we ask for His help, even though it might not be exactly what we are asking for? If we can trust Him in this way, we enable Him to do what’s best for us even though we do not know what it might be. Then, … we will be given … “everything we need for living a godly life.” Now, take everything God has promised you.