HOW TO MEET AN IMPOSSIBLE NEED

I take my job as the family pack mule seriously. Need a tissue? Pen? Piece of gum? I've got what you need in my purse. 

I sit poised on the edge of each day, waiting to provide the goods.

"Grandma, I gotta' go potty!"

Without a second thought for my safety, I whip out the Lysol and toilet seat cover from my designer bag and run to battle every little germ I cannot see.

That's what you and I do. We're the faith keepers. There's nothing we won't carry for our people.

That's why it wrecks us when we reach into our bag of tricks and come up empty-handed.

Souls need peace, joy, and freedom that we can't provide.

Where do you go to get what people lack?

Finding faith for someone else feels like you're a contestant on the old TV game show "Let's Make a Deal." You'll get a prize only if you have the perfect items in your handbag.

"Nikki White!" C'mon down!" I imagine Jesus saying.

Poor Nikki comes running down the aisle clutching her overstuffed bag to her rapidly beating heart, praying she has what it takes to win.

"I'll give you a $100 bill AND the "Christian of the Year" award if you can recite a Bible verse to fix your friend's anxiety!"

I rummage through my head, triumphantly pulling out John 3:16, but it turns into a bandaid in my shaking hand.

"Oh, you poor dear," Jesus chuckles. "Johnny, tell our friend what's waiting behind the curtain if she has the perfect words to lead someone back to Me?"

Johnny's heavy answer rattles me as it hangs in the air, "An all-expense paid trip to Heaven for you and your loved ones!" 

But that's not true.

With stakes that high, Jesus would NEVER play such a game.

Instead, Jesus offers a new deal. 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

You're not God. He is. 

Only Jesus can carry the weight of the world on His shoulders. He Alone heals broken hearts, forgives sin, and breaks chains.

C'mon down. Lay your precious people and their desperate needs at Jesus's feet.

Dump your purse out and tell Him, "This is all I got. I need more."

Your God will supply all you need to love people well.

And what we all need most is Him. 

Rest in this truth. Jesus is yours. He’ll carry you AND your people wherever you go.