The other day I heard a priest say—I don’t know if the phrase was his or if I had read it—  “In the desert Moses learned to be nobody, but it was also in the desert that he learned that God is everything.”

A profound and simple truth that I loved. I have visited the desert many times myself: I have walked through the Sinai, made a pilgrimage in the desert near Jerusalem, and visited Petra and the Negev. But there is no need to go so far. Each of us, from our own life, can find ourselves in an inner desert and have this double transformative experience.

Because it’s not just the physical desert that teaches humility.  Life, the city, work, human relationships… everything leads us to understand that we are nothing in and of ourselves.  It’s enough to receive bad medical news, lose a job, face a family crisis, or experience the fragility of human love. Health, work, love… so many things we sometimes boast about or feel confident about hang in the balance.

Thus, during difficulties, we learn that we are vulnerable, small, and limited. That our strength is not enough. And that our life, even if we struggle to control it, is in the hands of another.

But it is precisely there, when one hits rock bottom, that one can discover that God is everything. There is no need to go to the desert: it is enough to enter the desert of one’s own heart.

In everyday life, at work, in prayer, in the Eucharist, in the family… wherever we feel our smallness, we can experience that God sustains our life. And then the worst news, the greatest adversity, doesn’t break us, because we know that God is with us.

As the Psalm says,  “A thousand may fall at your left, ten thousand at your right, but none will come near you,” and St. Paul reminds us that  “all things work together for the good of those who love God.“

How beautiful it is to live with humility, recognizing that by myself I am nothing, but with God all things are possible. Even when plans fall apart, when the unexpected surprises us—such as the birth of a child with disabilities, a sudden illness, a painful loss—we know that we own nothing, but God owns everything, and He can sustain us.

Therefore, never go to bed without asking God:  “Give me, Lord, the gift of strength; that, seeing my smallness and my weakness, I may know that I am nobody, but that You are everything and can do everything.”

In any circumstance, He can give us encouragement, strength, and fortitude. Even if He doesn’t change the situation, He can change our hearts so we can move forward with peace and hope.

As a priest, I have seen many people who, in the midst of suffering, remain strong, steadfast, and great in their smallness. And this is only possible because they have learned that they are nothing, but that God is everything.

Let us do all the good we can.