The God Who Sustains

As Israel had to walked through the Wilderness,

We all too, walk through wilderness seasons of life that feels like wilderness moments

The wilderness—every believer knows what that feels like.

A season where you’re stretched, challenged, humbled… sometimes even broken.

For Israel, those forty years were not an accident.

They were not wasted time.

They weren’t God being cruel.

They were God forming a people who trusted Him—really trusted Him—

beyond what their eyes could see or their hands could control.

And church, the older I get, the more I realize:

Wilderness seasons are where God teaches us who He truly is—and who we truly are.

Little did I know that this passage would become the lens through which I would view my own life these past few weeks.

RECENT EXPERIENCE — LAYING MY FATHER TO REST

As many of you know, I recently returned from laying my father to rest in his beloved homeland.

It was emotional, weighty, sacred… and complicated.

And the complications began before we even left the church.

Not including a canceled flight.

Scrambling for a rental car that wasn’t supposed to be available.

Trying to secure a hotel last minute in the middle of heavy rain.

Coordinating not just travel, but grief—

navigating five different personalities, emotions, and needs,

all while trying to honor my dad and ensure everyone stayed safe.

It felt like everything was happening at once.

And church, I’ll be honest: I kept thinking, “If I can just fix this… if I can just control this… if I can get us through this…”

But every time I tried to tighten my grip, the situation reminded me how little control I actually had.

THE CONFESSION — I REACHED MY BREAKING POINT

Let me confess something openly to you, because pastors aren’t exempt from the wilderness.

There were moments in that trip—especially when exhaustion piled on top of grief—where I lost my cool.

I crossed my breaking point.

I reacted out of stress instead of surrender.

I spoke from frustration instead of faith.

And I remember thinking: “Lord, I’m preaching about trusting You in the wilderness… but right now I am forgetting everything You taught me.”

I had to stop.

Repent.

Humble myself.

And remember the inspiration of this sermon:

“Man does not live by bread alone…”

Man does not live by control.

Man does not live by perfect plans.

Man does not live by emotional strength.

Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

God had to remind me:

“Son, you don’t sustain your family. You don’t sustain this trip. You don’t sustain this moment.

I do.”

GOD USES THE WILDERNESS TO HUMBLE US

Deuteronomy 8:1–3 NKJV

1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8 reveals four things God does in the wilderness:

1. He Leads

“You shall remember the whole way the Lord your God has led you…”

Even the confusing steps.

Even the steps you didn’t want to take.

Even the steps that didn’t make sense until much later.

2. He Humbles

“…that He might humble you…” Wilderness moments strip away the illusion that we run our own lives.

When the flight gets canceled…

When the hotel falls through…

When emotions run high…

When you face grief, fear, uncertainty…

God gently and lovingly reminds us:

“You were never meant to carry this alone.”

3. He Tests What’s in Our Hearts

“…testing you to know what was in your heart…”

Not to expose us in shame… but to reveal our need for Him.

4. He Teaches Us Dependence

“…that man does not live by bread alone…”

God lets Israel hunger—not to harm them—but so they would learn:

“Your survival is not in the bread.

Your survival is in the God who provides it.”

Israel stood at the edge of the Promised Land, and Moses told them one word:

“Remember”

Remember how the Lord led you.

Remember how the Lord fed you.

Remember how the Lord sustained you.

Remember how the Lord humbled you.

The wilderness was not a punishment— it was a classroom.

And if we’re honest, God still works the same way today.

He brings us into moments we cannot control so that we finally see the One who is in control.

A RECENT WILDERNESS — LAYING MY FATHER TO REST

Just recently, my family and I walked through one of the deepest and most difficult wilderness experiences of my life:

Traveling home from laying our father to rest in Mexico.

Grief was already heavy, but then the logistics piled on top of it.

We arrived at the Dallas airport over an hour late from a weather delay,

We raced to the other side of the gargantuan airport to check in our bags, and suddenly afterward checking them in,

We received notice it was all for naught, our last flight was canceled.

Just like that.

No warning.

No explanation.

We then scrambled, trying to find a rental car.

Not just any car—but one big enough to fit all of us and our luggage.

On top of that, we had to find a hotel on the spot, in a place we didn’t plan to be,

With five different personalities and five different emotional states

All trying to navigate grief, travel stress, and exhaustion.

Then the shuttle from the hotel had stopped running for the night.

Let me tell you— it was a wilderness.

And it reminded me of something humbling:

No matter how hard we try to control things,

no matter how carefully we plan,

no matter how strong we think we are—

Life will put us in situations that break our illusion of control.

And in those moments, the words of Deuteronomy 8 became real:

“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

In that chaotic journey—

God sustained us.

God protected us.

God guided us.

God kept us.

Even when everything felt like it was falling apart,

God was holding it together.

And this recent experience took me right back to something from my younger years—

a time I once thought everything I had was the result of me.

My effort.

My intelligence.

My hustle.

My decisions.

I looked at my accomplishments and said:

“I built this. I earned this. I did this. All by myself.”

How arrogant I was?

But then the Lord, in His mercy, began taking things away.

Opportunities dried up.

Money slipped through my fingers.

Plans collapsed.

Confidence drained.

Until the day I ended up literally on my knees.

Broken.

Confused.

Crushed.

But in that moment—I realized I had never been alone.

God was there.

God was sustaining me.

God was carrying me.

Just like He carried us on our recent trip.

Just like He carried Israel in the wilderness.

The truth hit me hard: No matter how hard I tried to control the outcomes,

My strength could not save me.

My success could not sustain me.

My ability could not hold my life together.

Only God could.

This is why so many who “have it all” still fall apart.

You see it in the wealthy, the powerful, the famous:

People with millions… depressed.

People with applause… addicted.

People with influence… morally collapsing.

People who seem to have everything… ending their own lives.

Because something essential is missing.

You can gather everything the world offers, but without the God who sustains—

The bottom eventually falls out.

Success without God is like a balloon without air.

It looks good for a moment, but it cannot hold its shape.

Scientists talk about the atom—the electrons, protons, and neutrons.

But the real mystery is the force that holds it all together.

Science calls it “The Strong Force.”

A name that sounds like it belongs in Star Wars.

But that Strong Force is holding more than atoms together.

It holds the earth in its orbit.

It holds the stars in the sky.

It holds the breath in your lungs.

Cultures have called it many names throughout history.

But we know who it is: and He is called by many names like,

El Shaddai.

Adonai.

Yahweh.

Jehovah Jireh.

Jehovah Shalom.

Jehovah Rapha.

Jehovah Sabaoth.

Elohim.

The Lord who sustains.

The God who holds all things together.

The Bible says:

Hebrews 1:3 NKJV

3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Colossians 1:17 NKJV

17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

He is the Strong Force.

He’s the One who held us together on that trip.

He’s the One who held me together in my youth.

He’s the One who held Israel together in the wilderness.

And He’s the One who holds you together today/

I once heard someone joke that some of our major cities are held together with plastic zip-ties.

And you know what?

Zip-ties are helpful—but they’re cheap, temporary, and man-made.

And we know that anything man-made will eventually fail.

So, if your life is held together by:

• your job

• your income

• your abilities

• your plans

• your personality

Then you’re being held together by worldly zip-ties.

But if God is holding your life together, nothing can tear it apart.

And if your children don’t learn that life is held together by God’s Word,

then the world will teach them that life is held together by money, fame, and success.

And they will chase it.

And it will cost them their souls.

Man cannot live on bread alone.

Man cannot live on success alone.

Your family cannot live on opportunity alone.

Your marriage cannot live on emotion alone.

Your future cannot live on plans alone.

Only God sustains.

Even at time when you failed—Like me to successfully return your grieving family home on time,

Or to have a back up plan just in case,

Or even when your back-up plans fall apart— and when your strength ran out—

God carried you.

Just like that old poem “Footprints in the Sand” says:

When there was only one set of footprints,

it wasn’t because God abandoned you—

it was because He was carrying you.

And He carried us on that trip.

Every mile.

Every delay.

Every storm.

Every decision.

Every emotion.

And at Every moment.

THE TRUE MANNA

Just like God fed Israel with manna,

Jesus tells us the true meaning:

John 6:51 NKJV

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Manna fed the stomach.

Jesus feeds the soul.

You can never eat too much of Him.

You can never depend on Him too much.

And you can never run out of what He provides.

CONCLUSION — WHAT HOLDS YOU TOGETHER?

So the question is simple:

What is sustaining you?

Your strength?

Your strategies?

Your plans?

Your confidence?

Your control?

Or the God who holds the universe together?

Because on that recent trip—

with delays, storms, stress, grief, and five different personalities—

we had to learn once again what Israel learned in the wilderness:

God sustains.

God provides.

God carries.

God holds all things together.

And He will hold you together too.

Amen.