Needs and Desires

I had a pretty rough night’s rest last evening.  It seemed like the dogs belonging to the neighbor’s behind and over one house, barked from the moment I turned the lights out for the night, up into the wee hours of the morning!  Since that house is on the end of their street, their backyard is totally fenced in with iron bar see through fencing, giving the occupants a full view of the green space behind our neighborhood and the golf course next door.  It also gives their three dogs a wide-open view of any and everything that walks, crawls, flies, or hops by… 24/7!

So, between the noise that the dogs were making caused by who-knows-what source and the thunderstorms that began around 1:30 and continued until I got up around 7:30 AM, I kept twisting and turning and checking on my restless dog throughout the night!

When I dragged myself out of bed, I dropped a fresh pod of coffee in my new coffee maker and rambled into my office to spend some time in the Word… hoping that doing so would encourage and energize my mind and body, as well as give me some focus for the day… and well…

I must admit, that the time in God’s Word, a cup of hot java, a long hot shower and a brisk walk down to the neighborhood pond and park did the trick!  As I walked along the greenway next to the golf course, I couldn’t help but to enjoy the look, the feel and the smell of the rain-soaked environment around me.  We barely got off our cul-de-sac before I noticed that it had started to rain, but even though I had chose to forgo my light rain coat, I decided that we’d continue on anyway!  And it was worth it!

As we walked along in the light rain, I found myself remembering all the times that the good Lord blessed both Piper and I with and through the many desires of our hearts.  He knew that we loved… and I still do… to take daily walks and therefore always had us living in a comfortable, safe neighborhood that was always near to a park or community green space.  This morning’s walk on the vast green lawn in the wet and warm morning reminded me of one of the first of many, rainy day, warm weather walks that Piper and I took across the vast, Oak tree-studded, green lawns on the campus of Chico State University back in the fall of 1973… the only difference being that we had raincoats on back then… aren’t we supposed to get smarter with age and experience?

In between the barking dogs and the boom of thunder and flashes of lightning last night, I also found myself thinking on two familiar and well-used scriptures from the long list of Piper’s and my all-time-favorites.  One of these verses talks about God’s plans for meeting our needs, while the other gives God’s directions to us concerning the acquisition of our desires. 

Philippians 4:19 was one of the first scriptures that I ever memorized and took to heart.  Here the Apostle Paul confidently told his readers that “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (KJV)  Mark 11:24 was also of major importance to Piper and I as it set the course for our individual lives, as well as for our marriage, family and ministry.  In this portion of scripture, we find Jesus teaching an all-important lesson on FAITH saying, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (KJV) 

In these verses I can see how God differentiates between needs and desires.  When you read the previous verses before Philippians 4:19, you understand that God’s supplying all of our needs is directly associated with our giving of tithes and offerings.  Simply said, when we are obedient and give of our finances to the work of God, He assures that our needs will be met.

Desires, on the other hand, take a process of coming boldly and yet humbly before the throne of grace and asking for the particular desire of your heart.  And as Jesus taught, that process includes our prayer and then our immediate belief… at the moment we pray… that we have already received that for which we have asked for.  After that it is simply a matter of thanking Him until you see the manifestation of your prayer.

In our life together, we continuously saw the Lord tending to mix the meeting of our needs with the fulfillment of our desires.  I think about all the more-than-nice houses that we had lived in over the years.  Piper had prayed when we first began to have our family that we would always have a nice house to live in… and you know… we always did!  And it wasn’t just any house, but one that many times, had many “extras” in it that we enjoyed… but didn’t necessarily ask for!  Our house in North Carolina is a perfect example of this.  There was hardly a week that went by in the relatively short period of time that we lived there when I didn’t discover an upgrade that the previous owners had put in, or realized that we had higher quality appliances, and even more property than I originally thought we had!

The same could be said for the many vehicles we owned.  Both Piper and I were “car guys” and God knew it!  Even when finances were on the tight side, we always drove a nice vehicle that most times was equipped with more accessories than the base or even upgraded models!  The show-room quality, Ford executive driven, custom assembled, Mustang GT convertible we had was a perfect example of this.  (Did I mentioned the tuned exhaust... I still dream about those glorious notes!)

My point is that God is such a GOOD GOD that He loves to bless us not only with what we need, but also throw in a little bit of our heart’s desires as well!  We’ve seen it through countless personal examples and with many faithful members of the congregations in which we served.

Let’s face it… When it came to our salvation, God loves us so much that didn’t pull any punches or try to get by with second best… No!  He gave His best.  He gave us His one and only begotten Son to carry the burden of our sins and trespasses… and assure us of a clean and clear path to heaven!

Think about that the next time you go before Him with a need and/or a desire.

Have a great week, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s best for your life!