Want and Needs

I asked the 10 year old young men to repeat a prayer for me. "I want my mom to be at my wedding but I need God."

Very simple request. At this time most young men are very, very tender toward their mom. It is only in the next couple of years do they buck against her "bossiness". Most of the young men would NOT repeat the prayer. They said that they needed their mother to be there at their wedding. Then I said that they were treating their mom like an idol.

They got it. They all said the prayer. One special young man said it with tears.

What do I need today? When we allow things to become needs our soul grabs onto them and they always, always, and always become secret IDOLS in our life. Almost all of our IDOLS come out of our God-given IDEALS that He wrote on our hearts.

What do I need today? By faith I have God. I have His care, His provision, His protection. Even though I ask for it, by the blood of Jesus and by His sovereign choice it is already mine.

The only thing I need to do today is to thank Him for everything He has given me. There are a lot of things I want today, some good and another things not so good but I need to give Him thanks. My heart needs to breathe, exhale the joy that is not natural to my soul. My heart must exhale into an atmosphere that despises joy that comes through faith. Yet I must let my heart exhale its great joy. Even though it hurts and stirs up deep grief hidden deep within my soul. I must breathe.