Needs and Desires!

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

It sometimes is not easy to know the difference between a need and a desire. I may need something but not desire the thing that I need. I may also desire something that I do not need.

When I desire the thing that I need I must sort through the facts, feelings and emotions to properly judge the action that I plan to take. That sounds like a big project, but it can happen in a flash as I determine whether or not I need to eat a piece of pie or just want to eat one. That is probably not a good example since a piece of pie rarely falls into the “I need it” category. How many times have I said to a waitress, “I would love a piece of pie, but I don’t need it!”

We think of needs in terms of things that have pleasant and positive fulfillments. I need a drink. I need some lunch. I need a nap. But when I was a little boy I remember my mother asking me this question: “Bill, do you need a spanking?” Of course, she asked the question because I was doing something contrary to her will. My thoughts in response were always: “Whether I need a spanking or not I certainly don’t want one!” Then I would initiate a short public relations campaign to change her mind and avoid the threatened spanking! It usually worked, but there are some memorable times when it did not!

It is easy to know the desires of your heart. No one has to research a matter to find out if he desires a thing. Desires almost always spring spontaneously from within. It is not so easy to know your needs. You may need to have your appendix removed, but I have never met a person who desired the operation until they were in great pain and were told that the operation was the only solution to their agony!

If you are a child of God the Bible says He will supply all of your needs. Of course that means the needs that coincide with your desires, but it also means the needs that do not. God’s goal with me is to bring me all the way to Glory so that I may stand before His throne forever and join the multitudes in praising Him! The things that I need to bring me there He will do for me, even if it means that I must suffer for righteousness sake on the way.

The Bible also says in Psalm 37:4:
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Like any good father God will not give us our desires if they work against our needs.

“Lord, help me today to know the difference in the things that I desire and the things that I need.”