What Do You Really Need?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. See his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6

What Do You Really Need?

Economic difficulties are nothing new, but now in our generation, many of us are experiencing economic challenges that we never expected. Millions of us are losing things that we have diligently worked for all of our lives. And while it is true that most of us have never faced this depth of financial insecurity before, we can profit from what others have learned when they faced similar experiences in the past.

In the mid nineteenth century, Edward More penned these words to one of Christianity’s greatest hymns, The Solid Rock.

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.”

Mr. More apparently understood how hope is built into human life. He built his hope “on nothing less,” and he did not trust “the sweetest frame,” but he “wholly leaned on Jesus name,” because he knew that “all other ground was sinking sand.” His words reflect an understanding of how all of our human dependencies, with the exception of our trust in Jesus, will inevitably abandon us mired alone in sinking sand.

The words of this hymn bring much needed clarity, especially when we consider how easily we get confused when we depend on the wrong things. The things we want get twisted into perceptions of need. This happens to all of us in one way or another. Everyone wants the new car, the larger house, the promise of a better stock portfolio. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things, we get all twisted up on the inside when we believe that we can’t be happy without the house, the 401K, the benefits or the retirement, when, in reality, we really don’t need them at all. Problems are created when we get our wants and wishes confused with our needs. Our thinking gets corrupted, we become distracted from our relationships, our emotions take over, we get obsessed, our behaviors run amuck, we can even become addicted to things, and we ultimately lose the joy of Christ which is, in reality, our only true fundamental need.

Spiritually, it is important that we recognize and admit that our financial difficulties are not tragedies. Foreclosures, repossessions, shrinking investments, and crumbling credit ratings are little more than inconveniences when considered alongside of God. Our losses are tests. They are a proving ground for our faith. And, while our losses may be exceedingly painful, they are not fatal, except maybe to our ego. Life, after all, will always have it’s ups and downs. Thankfully, Christ is bigger than our losses, He is bigger than our pain, and He is bigger than our egos. Knowing this will help us be patient with our difficult circumstances. It will help us be patient with ourselves. It will help us find perspective for our lives. For you see, pain is useful in that it gets our attention. It makes us sit up and take notice that something is amiss and that we need to change. Pain, when we accept it as a teacher and a friend, helps us to be better aware and more honest about what is really important. When we are honestly aware of how we have been overly attached to things in the past, we will be more willing to admit our fundamental and intimate need for God. In turn, our willingness to admit our need strengthens our grasp of God and His grace. And, isn’t that what we have been craving for all along?

copyright 2009, David Zailer