Needs & Wants

"My God will use his glorious riches to give you everything you need. He will do this through Christ Jesus" - Philippians 4:19 (ERV)

Yesterday God spoke to me and it wasn't audible or even that still small inner voice that He generally uses. This time it was in the form of my loving and beautiful wife, didn't see that one coming, but God knows what we need when we need it. 

Here's what happened, it was just another typical Friday and it was payday, yeeess! Shortly after my work day started I get a text message from the wife basically telling me to watch my spending because things are a bit tight due to a smaller than usual pay period. Immediately discouragement came in and I felt a wave of just "blah" come over me. I replied to my wife's text with "discouraged" and and a sad face emoticon and the response from her to my text is where God used her to speak right to me. She basically said that all I needed to do was look around at all the blessings God has given us and as she said that instantly I knew it was God reminding me of all He has brought us through and how He's provided every single step of the way.

You see I tend to get my needs all mixed up with my wants and this has been a fairly regular thing that has popped up every now and then throughout my own life. Can you relate? If we really break down what is it really that we need to survive? If we think about it in that sense the list becomes very small. What tends to happen is society & the media tells us what we need and it goes a bit like this: get an education, make money, get married, buy a bigger house, have children, be happy, if it feels good do it, get divorced, get nicer cars, invest, buy, sell, workout, diet, support a cause, save the whales, blah blah blah...the list could literally go one forever, but if you truly answer the question what do I need to live. For me at least all the things I could think of I already have and more so then others I know. Very quickly I was humbled and convicted for my complaining attitude, I felt a bit like the Children of Israel complaining in the desert (see Exodus 16). After all that was said and done and I took a brief inventory of all that God truly has provided my attitude and day changed for the better.

The enemy will take EVERY opportunity to try to get our eyes off of the goodness and faithfulness of God. This was just an chance for him to do so with me and God knew that. So in all His goodness He intervened and spoke to me through my wife. It all boils down to trusting in God and if I still had any doubt that God was trying to get my attention about trusting in Him "Trusting in God" was also part of Pastor Tom's topic for that Friday night's men's meeting at church. So this was word/lesson was confirmed and reconfirmed several times throughout the day so needless to say I have taken the refresher course on trusting in God.

So if you're feeling a bit discouraged that's OK, we all do from time to time, just don't settle there. Remind yourself of what God has provided for you and stop focusing on what you don't have yet. Be thankful for what God has given you and entrusted into your hands and eventually He will increase what He gives you. It's a marathon people not a sprint.

Take Care & God Bless,

-E