Philippians 4:19

"My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"

This verse has been on my mind for the better part of two weeks.  I came across the verse through a church wide bible study and have not been able to get it off my mind since.  When I first saw it, I began to think about my "needs".
I seem to have a lot of needs.  I need George to take a nap, I need to run, I need to have time to myself, I need a place to call home next year in Raleigh, I need my son to cease to command 100% of my attention and learn to share his mother (if you don't get my drift, I basically need George to have a sibling, like tomorrow), I need supernatural endurance, patience, and strength for the weeks when my husband is not able to help parent.  I need to set an example for my family related to prayer and bible study.  This is not even an exhaustive list.  It is exhaustING but not exhaustive- meaning there are so many other things I think I need- a 2014 Range Rover, a haircut, a mani/pedi, a massage (uh oh she's on personal care- watch out world, there are a LOT of needs in that arena for her).  I could obviously go on for days about things I need.  When I first read that verse, I have to admit, I was a little skeptical "oh right, God can meet all my needs?  Has he even looked at my bank account or my day-to-day routine?  Does he see how little time, money and energy is left?"   Then I finished the verse,
"…ACCORDING to His GLORIOUS RICHES in CHRIST JESUS".  God is always a thought ahead of us.  At first I still was not sure what this verse meant for me.  After a few days, all my "needs" began to sound more like "wants" to me.  Thats when I decided I would write down my "wants" and then below them I would write my "need" that God would meet through Jesus.  It was such a good exercise that I wanted to share it with you.  Here's how my list started to take shape (in the exact order as my written journal).

Want: Good house in Raleigh in a good location, at least .3 acre, at least one tub and a closet (we have neither of those in our current abode), fabulous kitchen (who am I kidding, yes, I really want that…can't leave it out of the want section) and on that note, I want a huge master bathroom and I want this house to be traditional white brick with black shutters, two stories……..ok enough with that.

Need: Safe place to raise my family, roof over our heads, within our budget

Want: George to have a sibling

Need: Patience for God's timing and trust in God's will

Want: Time off parenting/time for myself that costs nothing (either money or extra energy later- you always pay in some way, free babysitter

Need: Strength, endurance, patience, help

Want: Good parenting to just come naturally

Need: Less anger, better ways to teach my son

Want: To set a good example for my sphere of influence, make sound decisions and good choices.

Need: above

Did you see how at the beginning if I was really honest with myself, the want seemed so different from the need?  Towards the end, it changed- my last want/need was one and the same.  How did this happen?  I began to meditate on the last part of the verse.  What does that really mean, " according to his (God's) glorious riches in Christ Jesus"?  What does Jesus have that God doesn't?  One single, simple thing- Jesus came to earth and took on a human body and mind.  He experienced every single human emotion that you and I have experienced. This is the reason I can be a Christian- because my God has countless glorious riches through Jesus.  

Jesus knows what it is to be in want. Since Jesus had a relationship with God, his Father, when he was on earth, and spoke to his Heavenly Father and asked his Heavenly Father for what he needed, God has such a clear way to know what our human bodies and minds need.  Of course he created us; he knows we need water and food, he knows how our minds work, he created the nervous system that provides pain when we touch something hot so that we remember (memories: also his idea) and never repeat.  God knows our basic needs because he created us.   But through Jesus he gained glorious riches, and because of Jesus, he has provided every need for a human who had the mind of God.

Jesus felt and had needs.  Jesus told God how he felt and what he needed.  God provided for Jesus' every need.  God knows how we feel and how to provide for our needs too.  

 

1.  God knows (through his glorious riches in Christ) what it feels like to want to protect family and friends from the elements.  I believe Jesus knows how I feel when I want to provide a safe and enriched space for my family.  Instead of a house with all the amenities I think I need, God can and will meet my need for a place to lay our heads at night.  I can trust that because Jesus was never in need of a place to rest, God always provided a shelter for him.  The stable where he was born when there was no room in the inn is one example (Luke 2:7).  There were also countless homes with willing hosts and hostesses for Jesus and his disciples.  Need of shelter- met.

2.  Instead of an instant gift of a child, God can give me patience and trust in him for the perfect time and his perfect will. Even though he was not a woman with a womb, he had a mother and was close to women (Luke 8:1-3) so I can only assume he listened intently to their wants and needs and had a supernatural understanding of them.  I also see this in Luke 8:43-48 when he heals the woman of her very womanly problem on his way to restore a young girl's life.  He also knows what it feels like to be tempted to question God's timing and will (Luke 22:42  "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done).  Jesus asked God for  his will to be done, and so can I.  Need for patience and trust- met.

    

3.  He knows what it feels like to feel pulled in many directions, he knows what it feels like to need rest and time alone (luke 22:41 says he "withdrew").  God gave Jesus twelve friends who followed him and listened to him, loved him and served him as best as they could.  God sent a woman to wash Jesus' feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair and anoint Jesus' feet with expensive oil (Luke 7:38, 44-47).  Jesus was given a friend who could afford to bless him with an expensive and royal burial.  These are all extravagant and elaborate gifts from God.   Therefore, God can (and TOTALLY has) given me friends here that have helped me in very real ways. Instead of a girls weekend away or a date night with my husband, God can provide friends to help in real times of need and supernatural patience and endurance when I am at the end of my rope.  My need for help is met.  

4. Jesus knows how I feel when I loose my temper with my son.  Jesus was able to "keep on keepin' on" (like my daddy says) even though his ministry was labor intensive with exhaustive travel and constant preaching and teaching.  With my three year old I am always on the move, always a teacher and always a preacher.  He needs constant supervision and direction; I constantly mold and shape him with my every action and decision.  That is a lot of pressure! But Jesus had the equivalent of twelve three year olds as it relates to the mysteries of the universe! I am sure he was tempted to loose his temper a few times with the disciples.  Instead he prayed for his disciples and told them stories to help them understand.  My need for better ways to teach my son is met through Jesus' example with his disciples.  Pray for your children and tell them stories.  So simple. Thank you Jesus.

5.  Jesus was a perfect example for his sphere of influence.  There's not much else that needs to be said about that.  Need for a good example to live by-met.  

 Jesus knows how I feel when I endure long-suffering, when I am weak, broken hearted, and worn down, and when I feel alone.  There is not an emotion I can think of that Jesus cannot relate to in some way.  

My attitude changed as I thought about my wants and needs through this "Christ" lens.  I asked myself, "What do I need that God can supply according to his promise?  By the end of my list of needs I began to think in a way that was Christ centered and God led.  My last request to God was to meet my "want" to provide a good example to my sphere of influence.  When I started to write a Jesus centered "need" I realized I had finally found a want that was also a need.  It was all in my attitude and my focus.  When I focused on things of this world- a good house, time for myself,  etc.- my needs were far from what God would meet.  When I started to think about my wants in a different way, a way that first asked, "How could God meet that need through his glorious riches in Christ Jesus", my wants became closer to what God will meet.  Write down your want/need list and see if you can make any of your wants into needs.  If you can reform what you "want" and ask him for it, God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  This is all for our development and sanctification- that is, God could give us all the selfish, lavish, worldly things if he wanted to leave us empty, but he chooses to only give us those things that will truly lift us up and nourish our souls in the long run.  If there is something you feel like God has withheld from you, try to ask God to provide for that need in a different way. I think you will find, as I did, that the error is not God's, the error lay in our focus.