Wants and Needs

Eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Prov. 24:13

It surely is a wonder, isn't it, how we're made...

and why we're made THIS particular way.

Instead of repeating a steady "I am" after our Great "I AM,"

we are often reeling in questions:

"Why?"

"Why am I like this?" or even,

"Why am I?"

And in the midst of questions

which twist and turn into

comparison, complaining, or self-criticism,

we might even wonder

about our wanting...

"Why do we want (so much)?"

It might seem like a fault,

all this wanting...

"The Lord is my shepherd...I shall not be in want." Psalm 23

Until we, the forgetful sheep that we are, can be reminded:

For You (Lord) created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13

Even before a word is on my tongue,

You, Lord, know it completely. Psalm 139:4

There it is.

We have our wants knit into us,

sewn within us.

We are keenly crafted

and carefully customized.

We are caringly created

and can courageously cry out,

"I was knit this way - every strand, knot and tie!"

It's a particularly bold proclamation

when the world seems to spin on unraveling our uniqueness,

on criticizing our particular pattern,

or on convincing us that our custom-design is not good enough.

Not enough.

Not worthy.

It's as though there is a twisted plot

to untie us from our connections to our Creator,

to separate us from Creation,

to cut us off

and leave us hanging in the false beliefs

that we just might be

unusable,

unnecessary,

unworthy,

unloved.

Where is the evidence,

the reminder,

the realization that the Master of Crafting Creation

and the knitter and weaver-together of Life

Knows what He is doing?

For You created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from You

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in Your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139

We are designed to Want.

We are designed with an appetite.

The want

may be for honey...

something immediate and pleasurable,

something delightful and surprisingly good.

But it leads us to our need.

The Word assures us: Eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul. Prov. 24:13

Our want for sweetness can lead us to discover a pleasure which lasts: How sweet are Your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

Our desire for something sweet in life is satisfied when we know that God has the last word, not anyone or anything else:

The judgments of the LORD are true; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. Psalm 19:10

Our desire for delight comes from the One who delights in us.

The want

may be for bread...

something that fills a need for sustenance,

for energy, for endurance and satiety.

But it leads us to our deeper need.

Then Jesus declared,

"I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry..." John 6:25

and

"I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." John 6:51

Our hunger for the long-lasting is fulfilled by the Ever-lasting.

The want

may be for holy water...

something that refreshes us to the core,

flows through every part of us,

and brings us back to life.

But it leads us to our essential need.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1

Our thirst for refreshment is met in the Ever-flowing.

Everywhere on God's green earth,

we are in want.

And we don't have to apologize.

Because Creator God,

the All-Seeing

and All-Knowing

and Ever-Present

sees all of our want while waiting to be Seen by us;

knows all of our want while waiting to be acKnowledged by us;

is present in our wants while offering His constant Presence.

Our wants and desires for things of this world

speak of things beyond this world.

Over and over again,

We are designed to know that we are Wanted.

​"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Our wants are invitations to cross-check;

to Cross-check about our need.

We are designed to Need.

Our need is an invitation

to recognize our connection with our Creator.

Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You...

I will be fully satisfied

as with the richest of foods. Psalm 63:2-5

And our God,

Who needs nothing from us

simply wants something For us.

And our God,

Who will both pursue us

and wait for us

will Remain

as the Source

of our longing fulfilled.

This life,

a Gift from our Creator,

is up to us

to Open up

to Him.

to Open up

to Him.