God will provide. I believe that. However, my faith has been tested a few times. One time in particular was when I was in desperate need to find a Greek Orthodox Lifeguard for St. Nicholas summer camp, where I was the Director. It was my first assignment out of seminary, and I was working as the Director of Youth Ministries for our Metropolis. St. Basil’s own Anna Nicole was my program director. The work of running a summer camping program is a huge endeavor with so many details, staff and volunteers that it takes months of work and meetings. As Anna and I were meeting with staff and volunteers, a question kept coming up… Where’s our lifeguard? My reply to everyone was “Don’t worry, God will provide.” And I truly believed that. The camp lifeguard oversees the pool and runs daily activities for the campers. The candidate needed to be available for the month of July and a Greek Orthodox Christian. As the weeks rolled by and the first day of camp was approaching, we still did not have a lifeguard. Three weeks before the camp was about to begin, we found ourselves in another meeting with staff. And the question came up again; Where’s the lifeguard? And I replied again; “God will provide.”
At this point I was getting worried. I had put the word out all over the Metropolis that we needed a Greek Orthodox Lifeguard to join our staff. I hadn’t heard anything. I, along with the staff, was wondering where God was going to get this Greek Orthodox Lifeguard and when were we going to meet him/her. We were definitely worried. The pool is a big part of the camping program, and everyone looks forward to swimming on those 95-degree camp days. I was getting extremely nervous about the upcoming camping program. Where was God going to get this lifeguard?
I didn’t see that all the while, God was letting His plan for our staff develop and He was going to provide for us with everything we need for this camping ministry. God came through for us in a way that I truly was not expecting. A couple weeks before camp was to begin, the Metropolitan asked me to go to Hawaii and run a retreat for the Church in Honolulu. After the retreat was over, some of the volunteers took me out to dinner. As we were getting to know one another, I asked them all what they did for work and school. One tall young adult in his 20’s said that he was a lifeguard at the beaches on the North Shore of Oahu, and that he wished that more Greek orthodox young Adults lived in Hawaii, and didn’t leave for the mainland once they turned 18. He told me that he wanted to connect with Greek Orthodox Christians similar to his age. “Well,” I said with a huge smile on my face, “I have a proposal for you that will definitely connect you with Orthodox Christians in your age group.”
The reading on Sunday, July 30th was the Gospel of the five loaves. (Matthew 14:14-22) The disciples say to Jesus; “We only five loaves and two fish.” I’m sure, like me, they were wondering how Jesus was going to provide for the more than 5,000 that were present, and from where he was going to get enough to feed everyone. Like the disciples, sometimes we look out and see only 5 loaves and two fish and ask ourselves; “From what source is God going to provide for us.” This Gospel is telling us that God does not need a Grocery store to feed the multitude. Jesus provides for us by his own will.
Do you believe that God will provide what is needed for us in our individual lives and in our Church? Having Faith that God can and will provide for us changes everything in our lives. It diverts us from trying to control everything in our lives and limiting ourselves to seeking only human solutions to life’s challenges and problems towards working though all our hurtles under God’s direction with faith that His will be done... for our own lives and for our Church Community. God is going to provide for you and is going to give our Church every thing it needs to be a vibrant
growing ministry. When we recite the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday during the Divine Liturgy, we declare that’s God’s will is
going to be done; “Thy will be done.” For each of us, God provides what we need and when we need it according to God’s purpose for our lives. That Greek Orthodox lifeguard received what he needed for his life, and we received what we needed for our camping ministry. God does provide. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
- Fr. Bill Tragus