“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

The good news of Jesus is that God did all that he could to meet our real needs. God demonstrated his astounding love for us by giving us his own Son, to die for us to redeem us, to pay for our sins, to live with us and through us. His purpose is that we might enjoy life in all its fullness through communion with him.

How can we possibly be sure that God will supply all that we need to live a full life? What are our needs anyway? There might be a debate about what we really need. Paul is not saying that God promises to meet all our wants. There is a big difference between wants and needs. Nor is Paul saying that we do not need to do anything to meet our basic needs. We have responsibility to provide for ourselves as best as we can. Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow developed a theory of the hierarchy of needs. He saw human beings’ needs arranged like a ladder. The most basic needs, at the bottom, were physical—air, water, food, sleep. Then came safety needs—security, stability—followed by psychological, or social needs—for belonging, love, acceptance. Then, came esteem needs—to feel achievement, status, responsibility, and reputation. At the top of it all were the self-actualizing needs—the need to fulfill oneself, to become all that one is capable of becoming. The basic needs were necessary to be fulfilled in order to meet higher needs.

But what if your basic needs are threatened by poverty, or sickness, or physical danger? The problem of suffering in the world is a challenge to belief that God will “graciously give us all things.” That is why Paul points to the Cross, the ‘emblem of suffering and shame’ (George Bennard). In the Cross God has given us the guarantee of his unfailing love and provision for us. He delivered up his Son to die for us and he suffered in his Son’s sufferings. In giving his Son he was giving himself. The self-giving of God in the death of his Son is meant to convince us that he will withhold nothing from us that we really need.

This is dramatized for us in Genesis 22 by the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is called to sacrifice his only son Isaac. In not sparing his own son, Abraham was in effect offering up his own life, his most precious possession, his future, the promise of God to him in the son of his old age. But he did so because he knew that God could even raise Isaac from the dead. God fulfilled his promise to meet Abraham’s need in the ram that was supplied for the offering. Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. This story illustrates that God did not spare himself in his Son. He gave himself. Love is self-giving, love is merciful, love is self-sacrifice. If God would give his own Son, would give himself in his Son, then we may be assured that he will, along with him (his peace, his presence and his power), graciously give us all things.

Since God has demonstrated his love in the Cross, no other historical event (whether personal or global) can override or disprove it. No matter what life can throw at us, no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in, God has promised to give us, with Christ, all that we really need. What are our real needs? Certainly Maslow has identified some of them: acceptance, affirmation, forgiveness, encouragement, significance, courage, faith, hope, love, friendship, security, peace. You may add to those your own list. There is the temptation to meet those needs in material ways. But money cannot buy the answer to any of those needs. Provision for those needs have to be found at a much deeper level. That provision is found in the Christ of the Cross. The story of Ruby Bridges bears this out.

Ruby Bridges was just six years old when in 1960 she stood before a judge who ordered her to go to first grade in the William Franz Elementary School. No black child had ever before stepped foot upon the hallowed white ground.

Every Sunday, her family went to church. Ruby’s mother wanted all her children to start feeling close to God’s Spirit from the very start. Now, the whole family was praying for strength and courage to get through any ‘trouble’ as a result of the desegregation ruling. Both her parents were proud that their little daughter had been chosen for such an important event in American history. So, they prayed that she would be a good girl and hold her head up high. They also prayed that Ruby would be a credit to her own people as well as a credit to all the American people.

Federal marshals had to be ordered in by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to escort Ruby into the school building. The New Orleans police as well as the Louisiana police refused their services. Large crowds of angry white people gathered every day outside the school grounds to hurl their epitaphs and threats of physical violence toward Ruby. The marshals carried guns just in case and often threatened arrests to keep the marching crowds back. Ruby would always hurry through them all without saying a word.

Once inside, she took her seat at her desk among a room full of other desks all vacant. None of the white parents would send their children to the school. They all participated in the protest, whether yelling and carrying signs or in the chilly, silent protest of empty desks. No one to learn with. No one to eat with. No one to play with. No one.

However, Ruby had a teacher required by law, Mrs. Henry. She was always dumbfounded by Ruby’s politeness and the effectual smile on her face. Wondering how Ruby could keep on going with such a relaxed and hopeful spirit, the teacher speculated when Ruby would wear down or even quit coming altogether. But Ruby said she was doing fine. And so Ruby learned how to read and how to write in an empty classroom in an empty building.

Then one morning, Mrs. Henry noticed Ruby walking toward the school as usual but then she stopped, turned toward the angry, howling crowd and seemed to even be trying to speak to them. The crowd seemed ready to pounce on her while the marshals tried in vain to keep Ruby moving. Finally, she stopped talking and walked into the school.

Mrs. Henry immediately asked Ruby what happened; why did she try and talk to such a belligerent crowd. Ruby irritatingly responded that she didn’t stop to talk with them. “Ruby, I saw you talking,” Mrs. Henry pressed. “I saw your lips moving.” “I wasn’t talking,” said Ruby. “I was praying…I was praying for them.” Evidently, Ruby had stopped every morning a few blocks away from the school to pray for the people who hated her. But on this morning she had forgotten until she was already in the middle of the malevolent mob. After school that day, Ruby bolted through the crowd as usual and headed for home with her two companion federal marshals. After a few blocks and with the crowds behind her, she paused as she usually did to say the prayer that she had repeated not once but twice a day — before and after school:

Please God, try to forgive these people. Because even if they say those bad things, They don’t know what they’re doing. So You could forgive them, Just like You did those folks a long time ago When they said terrible things about You.

God met Ruby’s needs through Christ’s presence with her, his peace within her, and his power to protect her. He is the answer to our real needs. Do you believe this? Do you live into that provision?

As St. Patrick prayed:

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.