Where Our Needs Are Met
Charles F. Stanley
Maybe not every one can identify with
Moses’ bowing before the burning bush. But
certainly most
of us understand the feeling of total
inadequacy that swept over him once he realized
the magnitude of God’s plan for his life.
The Lord chose him to lead Israel out of Egyptian
bondage. And while Moses had been raised in a
household where plotting military strategies was
a part of common conversation, nothing he had
heard or learned prepared
him for what the Lord was calling him
to do. Only God could meet his need. And this was
exactly what the Lord had in mind when He assured
Moses by saying: "Certainly I will be with
you" (Exodus 3:12a).
If you find it
hard to compare your life to the life of Moses,
consider the disciples and the grief and fear
they experienced after Jesus’ death. For
three years, they had been
at the Lord’s side. They had
learned the unfaltering dynamics of God’s
truth and witnessed miracle after miracle, but
nothing they had seen or experienced prepared
them for the loneliness and overwhelming sense of
loss they faced immediately following the
crucifixion. Questions filled their minds as they
wondered what would become of them and the
work they had been trained to do.
Only God could
meet their needs. And this is exactly what the
Lord had in mind when He told His disciples:
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe
in God, believe also in Me.
. . . I go to prepare a place for you.
If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to Myself, that where I am,
there you may be also" (John 14:1-3). Verse
18 provides tremendous assurance: "I will
not leave you as orphans; I will come to
you."
What is
your greatest need? Is it a need for
wisdom, love, security, hope, or
acceptance? Or is there a form of bondage in your
life that you have struggled to lay aside, and
after months or years of trying, you feel like
giving up? God does not want you to feel
hopeless. Your need, no matter how great it
seems, is not greater than almighty God’s
ability to provide. His strength is yours and
He will provide for the need you
have.
God often
brings healing when we seek Him. It may not
always come the way we imagine, but the healing
He brings leads to eternal joy and rest. God
restores the brokenhearted. He lifts
up and frees those who are enslaved to
sin so that they may walk in newness of life.
The apostle
Paul was a noted scholar and capable man. Yet he
discovered that his greatest weakness was the
very point of Christ’s greatest strength.
(Philippians 4:11-19) Moses’ inadequacy was
just the right atmosphere for God to work
mightily. Many
times we think that in order for God to
work in our lives, we must find a way to help
Him. While God allows us to be involved in the
process of having our needs met, His greatest
desire is for us to learn to turn to Him first
for the solution and not to ourselves.
We All Have
Needs
God
created us with certain needs that only He can
meet. This is why
Paul could easily write: "My God
will supply all your needs according to His
riches in glory in Christ Jesus"
(Philippians 4:19). He knew God would meet every
need. But what about the times we suffer and feel
disappointed, left out, and alone? What does God
have in mind when He allows us to have needs that
seem overwhelming?
George
Matheson provides insight: "A long-deferred
fulfillment carries its own pain, but to wait for
hope, to see no glimmer
of a prospect and yet refuse to
despair; to have nothing but night before the
casement and yet to keep the casement open for
possible stars; to have a vacant place in my
heart and yet to allow that place to be filled by
no inferior presence–that is the grandest
patience in the universe. It is Job in the
tempest; it is Abraham on the road to Moriah; it
is
Moses in the desert of Midian; it is
the Son of Man in the Garden of
Gethsemane."
Like us, Jesus
had needs. He experienced hunger and loneliness.
He cried at Lazarus’ tomb, not because He
was weak or in despair, but because someone He
loved dearly had suffered and died. He knew what
it was like to love and have His love rejected.
He came to earth to save us from sin, but He also
came so that we might
know He understands the needs we
have.
The greatest
need that man has is a need for God. No matter
how many times secular man denies it, there is a
void in the life of the unbeliever that cries out
to be filled with his Creator.
When we try to meet our needs apart
from God, peace is fleeting. Nothing we can do on
our own can satisfy the deeper longings of the
heart. We can purchase many things, but we
can’t buy eternal peace. Only God can
provide this.
Usually the needs we have fall into one of three
categories: a need for belonging, worthiness, or
competence. From the world’s perspective
each of these can be satisfied apart from
God. However, from God’s
perspective there is only one way for these needs
to be met, and that is through faith in Jesus
Christ.
God created you with
a need to feel like you belong to
someone or something greater than yourself.
However, we often try to
meet this need on
our own by searching to find that
perfect person who will meet all our needs. No
one can do what only God can do. And none of us
can meet all the needs of a mate, friend, or
parent. Insecurities vanish when our security and
need to belong is in Jesus Christ. The same is
true when
it comes to gaining a sense of
worthiness and competence. We are worthy not
because of what we have accomplished but because
of who has taken hold of our lives. It is God who
gives us competence and the ability to live,
work, and raise our families.
However, many people
fail to understand that there is a process we
must follow if we are going to have our needs met
by God.
The first step in dealing with a
need is to acknowledge that the need exists.
Never be afraid to talk
with God about the problem you face. If you are
lonely or fearful, He wants to hear about
your struggle. First you must trust
Him, and one of the truest signs of faith is a
humble heart that seeks God through prayer.
Seek
His direction.
This may mean putting aside
your personal desires so that God can provide for
you. When Solomon took over his father’s
throne, God appeared
to him in a dream and said, "Ask
for whatever you want me to give you" (1
Kings 3:5 niv). Solomon asked for "a
discerning heart
to . . . distinguish between right and
wrong" (v. 9). In Proverbs God says, "I
love those who love me; and those who diligently
seek me will find me" (Proverbs 8:17).
Claim His promises.
Take time to study
God’s Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your
heart and mind to His truth so that you
will know and understand God’s will
concerning your need. (Psalm 55:1)
Be willing to wait
for God’s best.
Perhaps you have been
seeking God concerning one particular answer. But
even after several months or even years,
God has not answered your prayers. Has
He forgotten you? No. God loves you with an
eternal love. He has a plan for your life that
includes His best for you. Answering your prayer
may be something that He does only when He knows
it will bring the greatest blessing into your
life.
He wants us to
be willing to wait for His best: for that right
person to marry, for the perfect home that only
the Lord can provide, or for the right job that
will tap into our talent while challenging us to
an even greater potential. The psalmist wrote,
"I would have despaired unless I had
believed that I would see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart
take courage; yes, wait for the Lord" (Psalm
27:13-14).
Thank the Lord in advance for
meeting your needs.
A
thankful heart is an indication that you are
trusting God. When you praise Him even before the
answer comes,
you are acknowledging your faith and
total dependency on Him and Him alone.
If you have tried many of the above steps, you may wonder why your needs are still unmet. There are several reasons why God does not meet our needs immediately.
He may be waiting for us to relinquish control of our lives.We may be wanting to live life "our way." This is a primary reason God does not meet many of the needs we have. We fail to seek His wisdom and instead jump ahead of His plan. Any time this happens, we risk having that need go unmet.
God has never failed to meet the needs we have. However, He can only do what we allow Him to do. He has given us a limited free will. This means that we can choose not to obey Him and go in another direction. Sometimes the issue may not be one of direct disobedience, but of spiritual laziness. God wants us to bring our needs to Him. When we fail to do this, we miss a great blessing. God cautioned the nation of Israel not to "walk by the light of their own fires." (see Isaiah 50:10-11) If they disobeyed, He promised they would lay down in sorrow and extreme disappointment. (Isaiah v. 11)
Another reason God does not meet our needs immediately is because we reject His methods.
We may not always understand why He has chosen to lead us along a certain path. From our perspective, the way before us may look dark and even confusing. But from God’s vantage point, it is perfectly engineered to meet every need we have. Therefore, we must trust Him as David did when he wrote: "Even though I walk though the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me" (Psalm 23:4).
God cannot meet our needs until we are willing to deal with actual problems and not just the symptoms.
If you are struggling with feelings of rejection or anxiety, these may not be root problems. The deeper need has to do with your sense of belonging. The key to a healthy self-esteem is not learning how to cope with the needs you face but discovering the Source of your needs, which is Jesus Christ.
Unconfessed sin is the biggest reason our needs go unmet.
Sin blocks God’s flow of grace in our lives. There is never a time when He fails to love us. But He cannot bless disobedience. If there is sin in your life, confess it to Him and receive His forgiveness and restoration.
An unforgiving spirit hinders our needs from being met.
The one attitude that can absolutely block God’s goodness is an unforgiving heart. When we refuse to forgive those who have hurt us, we erect walls around our lives. Some good may get in through the tangled weeds of bitterness and resentment, but it is quickly choked out. For those who have hurt you, this was Jesus’ command: Forgive as you have been forgiven. Remember, when you forgive another, you are not saying that what he has done was right, you are simply freeing yourself from the bondage of unforgiveness so that God can bring healing and hope to your life, and He will deal with the sin of another.
Doubt also blocks God’s ability to meet our needs.
Jesus asked Peter, "Why did you doubt?" The disciple had seen the Lord walking on the surface of the Sea of Galilee and immediately wanted to walk out to meet His Lord. But the stormy sea caught His attention and his focus shifted from God’s mighty ability to his own weakness; Peter began to sink. Oswald Chambers says, "When God gives you a vision, transact business on that line no matter what it costs."
When we seek to have our needs met, but our motives are wrong, God must first deal with the attitude of our hearts.
Manipulation, deceit, and selfish desire are chief enemies to our needs being met in the proper way. If our motives for asking God to meet our needs are not God-fashioned, then chances are they will go unmet until we submit to His plan and design. Jesus instructed His disciples to "seek first the kingdom of God" and all their other needs would be answered. Are you sure that the need within your life is God-driven, or is it self-desiring?
Needs go unmet when we fail to ask God to deliver us.
Some Christians have a way of going through the storms of life with a self-determined demeanor. They are determined to "praise the Lord no matter what the opposition is." The Bible tells us that "Jesus wept." The Son of God had a need, and He knew how to be weak and allow His Father to do what no man could do for Him. Are you determined to be strong in your own strength or are you relying on God to meet your needs as you make them known to Him? The Father loves to hold His children, and nothing makes Him happier than to have you come to Him in loving humility.
Many people do not know how to talk to the Lord about the needs they have. They may feel overwhelmed, or emotionally frozen inside and don’t know how to express themselves. God is not interested in the way you come to Him. He is not going to keep a progress report of your prayers. The most important thing to Him is that you come. It is a heart issue. When you turn to Him, He bends over to listen to your softest heartfelt whisper. He is that close all the time.
Ask Him to help you discern between a real need and a desire. All desires are not bad or self-centered. The Bible tells us that He gives us the desires of our hearts. When we are focused on His will for our lives we will have a natural inclination toward the things that please God. Desires come and many times they are the doorways to tremendous blessing.
Needs are God-given opportunities. They allow the Lord to work in a mighty way while proving His faithfulness to us.
You may not understand all the needs of your heart. Some you may have met in illegitimate ways, and you wonder if God will forgive you and restore the hope you once had. The answer is yes! He is the God of second chances. Bring your needs to Him, and He will meet each one perfectly and completely so that your heart is filled to overflowing with His love and grace. IN TOUCH® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 IN TOUCH MINISTRIES®, ITM, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, USA, used with permission. All rights reserved.