God Needs Us

By Craig Ashton Jr., January 6, 2024

I’ve considered the notion that God experiences needs. It is a remarkable thought, but to think that God needs us is not to suggest that He is deficient or needs us to run errands for Him. That would misrepresent the beautiful truth that we were designed for intimacy and communion with Him. We often emphasize our need of God, but perhaps we have not considered the ways in which God needs us. When I consider the gospel accounts, I see that Jesus has needs, and thus so does the Father. Jesus’s desires for intimacy and communion became clear as He participated in the actions of His Father. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).

In the story where Jesus fed 5,000 with a boy’s meager lunch, I see God’s deep need for us. Jesus could have fed the crowds in a stunning display of miraculous power, but instead, He turned to His disciples and said, “You feed them.” The story makes clear that the disciples had no money to buy bread for the thousands of people who had gathered, so they certainly had no way to deliver a lunch. Jesus had asked them to do the impossible, inviting His disciples to join in the very works He and His Father were doing.

It is obvious that the disciples had little understanding and no resources to complete this task, but despite their imperfection and inadequacy, Jesus offered them His partnership as He joined the actions of His Father. Jesus found a way for the disciples to actively participate in an exhibition of divine compassion, involving them in acts that He and His Father were doing. I can only imagine the joy and wonder of helping to serve so many people in God’s name—what a privilege to see the people’s smiles and joy and participate in such an amazing miracle—but then I also think of God’s smile and joy.

I think this story, among others, illustrates how God needs us. What God needs from us may seem overwhelming and beyond our ability to give. We hear Jesus say things like “You feed them,” and we quickly become aware of how little we have. We must admit how imperfect and meager our resources are compared to the vast resources at His disposal. Yet I am amazed at God’s desire for us to imitate Him—an intimate desire that drives Him to include us. God’s need reflects His heart’s desire that we actively participate in His compassion and love.

Craig Ashton Jr.