The God we Serve

When Paul stood on Mars Hill and spoke to some of the most highly educated people in the world, he said that he wanted to speak to them about a God they worshiped in ignorance. 

He also told them that the God we worship does not “need” to be served by man because or God gives life and breath to all things. In other words, our God doesn’t “need” anything from us.

That of course, is not to say the God doesn’t require our worship or our service. It simply means that God doesn’t need it to be validated or affirmed. He is self-validated.

The big takeaway for me from this marvelous encounter in Acts 17 is that God is big enough and powerful enough to handle anything that seeks to render inadequate our work.

If we depend on ourselves, our knowledge, our creativity, or anyone or anything else; we are serving a god who is too small. If we try to fix our problems, our concerns, our distresses, or our anxieties without the Creator we will fail.

Preacher friends, when we face heartache, failure, or people who are mean-spirited, if we try to handle it ourselves, we will burn out and wear out.

Whatever crises you might be dealing with right now in your life or ministry, may I encourage you to rely fully on the God who has no needs. When we turn our problems over to Him, we will be able to do our work with peace, comfort, and assurance.

Because He is self-sufficient our God will never fail, He will never lose, He will never let us down, and He will never let us go. May we be reminded of the words to the old song, “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand!”