God Meets Our Needs Part 1: HE Is the Answer

What comes to mind when you think of needs? Many consider needs to be only the physical things that are necessary to sustain or improve daily life, such as food, housing, or transportation. Others consider emotional desires, such as lasting peace, happiness, or a sense of security, to be needs. However, even when one or both of these types of criteria are met, we still feel a gaping hole within our hearts. Why? Because we haven’t recognized our truest need. It is for God Himself.

 

Since we were created by God, it makes sense that we would long for relationship with Him. Since we were also made in His image and thus possess the mind of Christ (See 1 Corinthians 2:16), it is natural for us to long for things that we do not currently see nor experience. After all, God’s thoughts are higher than ours (See Isaiah 55:8, 9)! This reminds me of the C.S. Lewis quote I have previously mentioned: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” And so we were! We were made for heaven (See Philippians 3:20) and thus see things from God’s otherworldly perspective. His vision is so much greater than anything we could think of on earth to satisfy ourselves! Thus, when we look to fill our emptiness, we always come up short.

 

What can we do to resolve this dilemma? First, we need to recognize that our needs—physical, emotional, and spiritual—are actually a gift from God to draw us into total dependence upon Him. We can then let God meet our needs by making our relationship with Him be our top priority. As we do, He unleashes His provision through His guidance, our obedience, and our belief in Him. In this three-part series, I am going to discuss how making our relationship with the Lord the main priority in our lives invites His provision. I will then explain how our listening to and obeying God’s guidance unleashes His provision, and finally, how believing in Jesus enables us to receive His provision.

 

Above all else, our primary need is for relationship with the Father. We may not typically think about relationships when we think about needs. However, when Jesus prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, He affirmed that only a relationship with God will satisfy our deepest longings: “‘And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth’” (John 17:3).

 

When you think of eternal life, what do you think of? Most people simply think of living forever or going to heaven when they die. While these things are true, eternal life is so much greater than that. In John 10:10, Jesus both defines what eternal life is and identifies the reason He came to save us: “‘My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.’” Satisfaction, then, is part of eternal life. God wants us to be fulfilled! How do we experience that fulfillment? Through knowing the Lord, as iterated in John 17:3.

 

In His sermon on worry, Jesus says to “‘Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need’” (Matt. 6:33). While the Kingdom of God certainly represents having a relationship with God, it is also defined by Romans 14:17 as “righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (AMPC).

 

Indeed, we think of righteousness, peace, and joy when we think of having our needs met. We think of emotional angst going away and being replaced by stability, happiness, and contentment. We yearn for the inner peace that comes from knowing that we are right with God. We long for these things so badly that without recognizing that only God can fulfill these needs, we will do just about anything to obtain them. But that stops when we develop a relationship with God: because as we get to know His character and heart for us, we realize that God wants what is best for us. This frees us to stop trying to fulfill our needs on our own. All we have to do is pursue Him, and He will meet us there (See James 4:8)! This gives us the deep, lasting joy we crave: the knowledge that God is taking care of us and is perfecting everything that concerns us (Psalm 138:8), that He is keeping us safe and will never leave us nor forsake us! This is the reward of all who seek God! This is joy and contentment that last.

 

Now that we understand that pursuing a relationship with the Father will satisfy our needs, how do we receive the practical provision God offers us? Through listening to Him, obeying Him, and believing in Him. As we listen to the Lord, He gives us guidance. We then must act upon this guidance by obeying Him. We can only gladly obey someone if we trust in them. Thus, we need to increase our trust and belief in God. How do we do this? We can deliberately meditate on God’s promises and His faithful acts of the past.

 

See this next blog post for more on how receiving God’s guidance and acting upon it opens the door to God’s provision for us!

 

*Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are from the New Living Translation.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition. BibleGateway, Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.

 

Lewis, C.S. “Mere Christianity Quotes.” Goodreads, Goodreads, Inc. 2024.

 

www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/801500-mere-christianity. Accessed 2 Jan. 2024.

New Living Translation. BibleGateway, Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.