So, I was driving along in the car yesterday, listening to K-Love.  As is usually the case, my mind wasn’t following any particular train of thought…well, honestly, my mind was all over the place…LOL.  Sometimes my thoughts move from topic to topic so fast I find it hard to keep up!  LOL  Anyway, as I was “kinda” listening to the music, a particular word popped out at me.  I can’t tell you what song was playing…or how the word was being used; but God brought to my attention the word that He needed me to hear to teach me His truth…the word “Need”.  

The first thing that popped into my mind was Philippians 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  I thought, “yah, I know that God.  You will supply all my needs, not all my ‘wants’.  I understand that wants aren’t needs.  And yes, I trust You to know better than I do what I need.” 

My mind had always categorized “needs” and “wants” this way:  I “need” fluids to stay alive; I “want” that fluid to be diet Pepsi.  I “need” air to maintain life; I “want” fresh air (not the air I have to breathe when one of the dogs is having “issues”– haha).  And so went my train of thought when BAM! The Spirit revealed to me that I was not fully exploring the concept of “need” vs. “want”.  I had a shallow understanding of the concept of God supplying my “need”…I was limiting it to the physical realm.

NEEDS ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE SPIRITUAL REALM

God, Knowing what I NEED,  sometimes supplies me with things I really don’t “want”.  For example, knowing that I “need” to grow in patience, God supplies a “traffic trial” when He knows I need to be somewhere on time.  Or knowing that I need to be more longsuffering with others, He supplies me with “sandpaper people” to smooth out my own rough edges.  I think you get the idea.  I was so stoked that God opened my understanding more fully when it came to “needs” and “wants”. 

What God is trying to develop in me is character and maturity that will make an impact here, as well as extend throughout eternity, where prior to this “light-bulb” moment, I had a very “me-centered” view of the word “need”, associating it with my well-being and comfort.  Ok, that was yesterday…

Well, this morning I was reading in Zechariah.  And man, was I convicted!  BIG TIME!  Catch this.

In chapter 7 God asked all the people and the priests, “When you fasted…was it really for me…?  And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?”  Those questions from the Almighty stopped me dead in my tracks.  God is taking the people from “mere” obedience and having them examine their motives.

God looks on the heart, not at mere outward appearances.  

We go to church each week…why?  For us to be blessed by the music and message OR so we can be conduits through which God blesses others?  

I have my quiet time each morning…why?  Because I know it’s the thing I am supposed to do OR because I hunger and thirst for God…to know more fully who He is…to experience Him more intimately?  Wow…(sigh)…

If what we do is not driven by the yearning to know and serve God, showing our love for Him in how we spend our time and in what we choose to do, then I’m wasting my time.  Things like church and Bible study are just selfish activities, dressed up in “Sunday clothes”.  Ouch!

Well, God didn’t stop there…in the next section of Zechariah 7, God listed for the people what the true essence of “religion” is:

— “Administer true justice”—CHECK! 

—“Show mercy and compassion to one another” –CHECK! 

—“Don’t oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor” –CHECK! 

—“In your hearts do not think evil of each other”—CH…Wait! what?!?

Another ouch.  Talk about conviction…I mean, there are times when I am my own worst enemy when it comes to walking with God.  I may “do” all the things that are earmarks of a believer, but if someone were to enter my head and read my thoughts, I’d be mortified.  It may surprise you (haha) but I don’t always think nice thoughts.  There’s this mean girl inside me that rears her ugly head sometimes.  And God has just called me out on that! 

I was struck with a “sigh”…and then after a comforting “hug” from the Holy Spirit, a “WOO HOO!” followed.  The sigh when I realize how far I have to go to being in the likeness of my Savior.  The Woo Hoo when the realization hit me that God is coming alongside me, partnering with me in the journey to Christlikeness.  I am not alone.  God is right here with me, supplying my every “NEED” to get me there.

How cool is THAT?!!!  I love God-moments…don’t you?