24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
28 for
“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ (Acts 17:24–28, ESV)
Trusting God has been a continual process of growth in my life. I’ve told many people recently that I feel like, in each new season, God is asking, “Can you trust me now?” As I understand who He is and what He’s promised, I can surrender to His authority and trust His character. Then, a new challenge came along, and I restart the process.
I don’t necessarily have to learn the same thing over again, but I have to understand the same truths within the context of the new challenge. I didn’t find it difficult to trust God’s sovereignty until I had children. Then, I struggled to surrender control. I felt the weight of my responsibility for and love for them and mistakenly believed I was in control of far more than I was.
In this passage in Acts 17, Paul is speaking to a group of Greek men. They’ve created an altar for worshipping an “unknown God.” So, Paul seeks to make Him known to them. He tells them how God made the whole world and rules over it. He doesn’t need men to make a temple for His residence—everything belongs to Him. He doesn’t need anything from His creation—the opposite is true. Creation needs God, and He provides for all of their needs.
These men needed to know who God was so they could worship Him properly. A misunderstanding of God will affect how you love, serve, obey, trust, and worship Him. A proper understanding will give you solid ground for these responses. You’ll never be satisfied in your knowledge of God—or at least you shouldn’t—because we will grow in understanding of Him as we grow in relationship with Him. Even still, some aspects will remain a mystery to us. We can’t fully know Him within the boundaries of our limits. But we can truly know Him through the power of His Word, His Spirit, and with the help of His church.
How are you wrestling with God’s sufficiency today? Maybe you’re running yourself into the ground with work, believing that outcomes depend on you and are not within God’s control. Perhaps your mind is consumed with trying to solve problems and make plans in a particular area of life instead of trusting God to direct your steps. You might be internalizing so much pain because you don’t believe God can handle your honest and raw emotions. Maybe you’ve fallen into this trap of believing something untrue about God—that He needs something from you. He doesn’t.
We are the ones in need, and He is the provider. He is sufficient for all—outcomes, direction, comfort, and provision. He is sovereign over all—us, our work, our families, our finances, our health. He needs nothing from us. What He wants is our devotion. He wants us to know, love, trust, obey, and delight in Him. What a privilege and gift! Our relationship with God depends not on what we do but what He’s already accomplished. Now, we can live in harmony with Him, trusting Him to do what He can.
Brittany K. Miller 