Want. Want. Want.
This life can be so very much about want.
At times, it can feel like our days are strung together with one need after the next; some filled and some left unfulfilled. When too many unfulfilled needs make up our strand, we begin to feel a little empty. A little less charged. A little too lifeless.
“Such is life”, one might say. And, “It’s the human condition” another.
But what if we were meant for more?
Embracing our humanity means we need to be real about it. No one escapes the ache of need. No one gets everything they want. And almost everyone is looking in the wrong places to have their needs met which means burnout runs rampant. People can be sensitive and react strongly to this at times because, when their tanks are close to “E”, this causes them to worry about their performance. How do you run when there isn’t much to run on?
Sound familiar?
Quite often, we try to unload this burden on others but the problem is, many of the ones we turn to are pretty close to that dreaded “E” themselves so they can’t provide any relief for anyone else. It simply isn’t within them. And so we pull into ourselves. We pull into our pain. To avoid disappointing ourselves or someone else even one more time, we isolate ourselves from anyone who might be looking to take a little more of what we don’t have to give.
I see this everywhere. I see this in myself.
Need. It’s kind of an epidemic.
And it tends to leave us feeling defenseless and raw.
But it’s more than a little addressed in the Bible and the answer is often staring us right in the face…
if we have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to understand.
***
My last post was about blessings and how deeply enjoying the blessings of this life comes with the understanding that the One who blesses is the biggest blessing of all.
This post is similar in topic because recently, it’s hitting me maybe more profoundly than it ever has:
the personal relationship we’re called to with our God unleashes a joy and power within us that isn’t attainable through any other means…
and we wouldn’t want it any other way!
God is not flawed. But every single one of us most definitely is. We don’t have to be weirded out by that and we don’t have to turn to stale, useless methods to combat the pain or unload all our pain on someone who can’t possibly fix us. God invites us to something so much bigger and better: Himself.
Even the very very good things of this life can become sources of need (stress, pain and fear) if we begin to see them outside the touch of God. For instance: the love we have for a spouse or a loved one. What would we ever do if we lost them? Something as beautiful as love becomes a burden.
Do you ever find yourself feeling the same way?
Or do you ever find when good things come your way, you focus a little too much on the potential downside? Or you stress over your future and whether you’ll have enough? Or you can’t stop worrying about whether or not you’re ever going to feel better or lose that weight or finish that project or fix that broken relationship? Or, as mentioned in the last post, you look to “things” or unhealthy remedies to mask or numb the aches you can’t seem to get to? Or you keep yourself super busy because if you stop for one second and just be real with yourself, you’ll see all the things you hate about yourself and fall apart?
I can relate, my friends.
My best advice to you would be to take those fears, those needs, those unfulfilled wants, those “secrets” (they’re not secrets to God), those tormenting thoughts, those crippling questions, those aches that feel impossible to fill…
and lay them humbly at the feet of your great God.
Take them to the One who knows and loves you and who actually reacts to your invitation to come in and alleviate the pain. As soon as you bring your wants (healthy and unhealthy) into the light, they begin to lose their control over you. The very second you open your mouth and confess your feelings to the Lord, you do two (of many) amazingly powerful things:
- You strengthen your personal relationship with God by communing with Him.
- You unleash His power to protect and restore you and your loved ones.
Do this and over time, you will learn that needs don’t look daunting in the light of a God who fiercely loves and WANTS to fulfill you.
Friends, it is NOT God’s will that we should spend this life (though it’s not even a drop in all the oceans) incapacitated by our lack of fulfillment. How can we do anything good in that state? And how does that prove the love of our God to ourselves or anyone else? There is a perfect strength that meets us in that broken place of longing and combats the pain of disappointment like nothing else. To rise up, you need only to recognize fulfillment where fulfillment can be found.
Psalm 16:11 – You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 27:1 – The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?
1 Corinthians 15:57 – But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:4 – He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 John 5:4 – For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.
This is not a fulfillment and strength reserved for the afterlife but one that can be tapped into now. In faith. And in the understanding that you are not limited by your needs. Your only real need is to know the One who has the power to fill you.
One more side note here (because I can’t help myself):
Satan hates when you figure this out. He knows the power and deep joy and satisfaction it will bring you to look to God with confident expectation. Do this and you render the enemy powerless. It reminds me of that scene in the Wizard of Oz…
Wicked Witch: [to Glinda pointing] You stay out of this Glinda, or I’ll fix you as well!
Glinda: [laughs] Oh, rubbish! You have no power here. Now be gone, before somebody drops a house on you too!
I wonder what our lives would look like and what they would speak to others if we truly believed the words of our most loving and thoroughly good God. I’ll bet, instead of living in a near constant state of depletion, we’d find ourselves living much differently.
Want. Want. Want.
In Christ, more like…
Filled. Filled. Filled.
It’s an invitation.
And it begins the second you turn from the world (that was never meant to fill you) and ask your God to come in and be your all in all. Oh how He loves to answer that cry!
And oh how it restores your power!
Because the enemy can’t use your needs against you when your needs propel you right into the arms of your Father.
(Be gone, Satan. You have no power here.)