Psalm 16:5 (NCV) "the Lord is all I need. He takes care of me."
A few years back I spent a great deal of time thinking about needs vs. wants. What is it I really need? When I identified something, I’d ask, “do I need this or is it just a want?” Have you ever found yourself wrestling with a question like this? As I pondered the difference, I found myself stopping dead in my tracks after reading Psalm 16, verse 5. My mind went back to the first time I visited the church I currently attend. As a child, I was raised in a Christian home and was in church every time the doors were opened…which usually meant Sunday mornings and evenings, and Wednesday nights. By the time I had reached my teens I stopped going to church on a regular basis and became a “C & E” Christian, attending church on Christmas and Easter ONLY.
I can remember the day I visited the church as an adult as if it were yesterday. The night before, my Dad called to invite me to the service. I’m not sure how many times they asked me to come and check it out but this time, I felt I just had to be there. At this time in my life I hadn’t been in or near a church since I had gotten married some years earlier. The relationship that I enjoyed with Christ when I was younger had become very distant. Throughout my childhood and into my early teens, I was very diligent about my relationship with Jesus. Reading my Bible and setting aside time to pray was a normal part of my everyday routine. In fact, it was a family thing. My parents, my sister and I would sit around the kitchen table reading and discussing the Bible. I fell out of the routine through my teens, twenties and into my thirties. The influences of the world caught my attention and led me on a path far away from the closeness I felt with Christ.
By the time I hit my thirties there was a huge God-shaped void in my life. I had tried to fill it with almost EVERYTHING this world had to offer. But I still felt empty, unsatisfied, restless. I knew something was missing. Little did I know it was the gentle knock of Christ calling me to come back to Him. He is what I needed to fill the empty places in my life and make me whole again. That Sunday morning as the worship team sang, I felt a warmth that I hadn't felt in so long. It was Christ wrapping me in His sweet embrace letting me know He was there and that He loved me even though I had ran so far away from Him. Tears began to flow uncontrollably as I continued to listen to the words of the song coming from the praise band. Breaking down a piece of the wall I had built, I allowed those words to wash over me.
“How deeply I need you my Lord…Like the morning needs the sun, I need you. Like the desert needs the rain, I need you. Like the ocean needs the streams, I need you.”
I need Christ PERIOD. He is my friend and confidant. He is the giver of everything good in my life. When I feel I can’t make it another second, He sustains me. When I feel unloved, He loves me with an everlasting love and will not leave me or forsake me.
My relationship with Christ continues to grow to this day. Each day I meet Him in the early morning hours. During that time, he fill the “holes” in my life with His love, mercy and grace.
Do you feel like something is missing in your life? Christ is knocking at the door to your heart. Will you let Him in?
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