Piles of wood that used to be houses. Mounds of debris that once formed trees. Parades of appliances lying on their backs and sides. Remnants of piers and bridges protruding from the sea. Tipped boats littering wounded land. Abandoned cars and trucks floating in floods. These are the photos I scrolled through days after a hurricane ravaged an island community. One image of destruction after another, and not a single person in sight.

The pounding wind snapped the bridge connecting the island to the mainland into pieces. Nearly everyone had left before the storm, and it would be weeks or months before most could return. “What would become of them?” I wondered. My curiosity was less about how to rebuild homes, recover belongings or restart a business ravaged by a hurricane. I wanted to know about the people. 

While most of us will not experience the extreme and sudden loss of community due to a natural disaster, many of us can relate to the people not seen in the post-storm photos. Perhaps a community we painstakingly built over many years has divided. Or one that brought us hope and love has dissolved. Maybe “our people” who we thought would be at our sides for life have dispersed and disappeared. As followers of Christ - people who strive to build solid, lasting communities - what do we do when we find ourselves alone? 

I answer this question with a question: Is Jesus really all we need? 

As a lifelong churchgoer, I have no memory of not “knowing” this statement, but I have a consistent recollection of questioning it. How can Jesus be enough when we are not meant to be alone in this world? If Jesus is all we need, why are Christians starving to death? 

Let’s see what the Bible has to say. 

Psalm 16:5: Lord, You alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. 

Matthew 6:33: But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

Philippians 4:19: And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. 

2 Peter 1:3: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.

This sample of verses reminds me that, if Jesus is all we need, it is because God is active. If we believe that Jesus alone is enough, it is because we believe in the promises of these verses. We put our faith in the vows that come with action verbs like “make’ and “give” and “bless.” We trust that, because of Jesus, our lives will be full of change. We move on, sometimes alone, sometimes abandoned, after the storms of our lives, knowing that God wants us to be recipients of all that He will give. 

We may never be able to cross the broken bridge back to where we once were, but we learn to see that Jesus is enough because He is the bridge.