And He said unto them, When I sent you without purse and scrip and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. Luke 22:35
One of the most touching stories in our Bible is that of Abraham the patriarch being asked to go and offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering on a mountain in Moriah. As they made their way up that mountain, Isaac noticed that they had all the necessities for an offering except the offering itself. When he questioned his father about it, Abraham replied, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And God did provide! Before Abraham could complete the sacrifice, God stopped him and pointed Abraham to a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. It was a great lesson for both Abraham and for Isaac in God making the provision for what He had demanded. It is a lesson for us, too, in light of our text and its reminder of the provision that the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples.
Jesus was referring to the time when He had sent forth His disciples to preach. Going forth with no purse or scrip or shoes, they were amazingly provided for, so that when Jesus asked them about it, they could reply that they had lacked nothing while on their mission. It was He who had sent them, and it was He who had provided. And He has not changed His approach. Consider the case of Anthony Norris Groves. In 1829, Groves gave up his dental practice in Exeter, England, and set forth on missionary work in Iraq and in India. Instead of relying on sponsorship from a missionary society or pledged support from a church or churches, Groves went forth in faith, putting into practice what he believed to be the Biblical principle of trusting God alone to supply his needs. His needs were met, both by the support of the Lord’s people and by his working as a dentist when necessary. He became known as the father of faith missions, his example establishing a principle among the Lord’s servants today of relying upon God alone for the needs associated with their service for Him. Few of our full-time workers are without stories of how God never failed to provide for the work that He required. In response to the question of whether they lacked anything for their mission, they would say with the disciples, Nothing. But does God provide only for the needs of the full-time workers?
The short answer is no. And so is the long answer. For anything that God requires us to do, He always provides the means. Sometimes we have to give up a few things for ourselves so we can commit to His service. And many Christians can tell you stories about that! But they have never been the losers for doing so. If God gives us an exercise in service, He will not only give us directions, He will also give us the resources. Whether a small task or a large, He will not fail us.
How will we know whether God will supply the means for us to serve Him if we don’t trust Him to supply it? – Jim MacIntosh