God Wants Your Needs Met, Your Desires Fulfilled

Hunger after His Kingdom (1)

Everyone has dreams and desires; this is perfectly normal. After all, you are alive! Only dead people have no desires. Look at the vast number of books out there purporting to teach us how to achieve our dreams and fulfill our desires – the “How to…” books coming under the category of “Self-Improvement” or ‘Self-Help” - and you will agree that I am just stating a fact. They sell well because people want to have a crack at fulfilling their dreams. Don’t be deceived, the goal is never just to improve. Ultimately it is to have what we want, what we desire and what we need.

These self-help books could be useful; I have read my share of Dale Carnegie and Anthony Robbins. But they are what they are: SELF-help. You need to rely on your own strength and you need to slog it out.  What if I tell you there is a better say?

“Are you saying that we don’t have to work hard for what we want?” You may ask.

Hold on, I am not proposing some get-rich-quick scheme to you. When I say there’s a better way, I mean you don’t have to do it all on your own. You have God with you, and He wants your needs met and your desires fulfilled. “This is indeed good news,” some will say. More than that, when you know that the almighty God is on your side, you know that you are sure to succeed. You cannot fail, because God cannot fail.

A long time ago a man named Jabez found himself in a very unfavorable condition. His mother even gave him a name which literally means “he will cause pain”. You can read all about him in 1 Chron 4:9-10. In his desperation he cried out to God, telling Him his desires. He had no qualm in asking what he wanted from God, holding nothing back. One by one, his desire was that God bless him, enlarge his territory, put His hand on him, keep evil away and let there be no pain. What was the result? The Bible put it very simply: God granted him what he requested. If God did it for Jabez, surely he will do the same for you.

There is one thing that I need to point out: we shouldn’t make too much a distinction between needs and desires. I don’t think there is a clear-cut line. To Jabez, which one was his need and which one his desire? Some people put it this way: God will give you all that you need, but He is not bound to give you all that you desire. At first look, it seems reasonable. But actually this kind of thinking belies a view of God that is far from the truth. To one who thinks like that, God is either not too generous or else His resources are limited. But we know that neither is true from the witness of the Bible. Jabez is a good example of God’s generosity and willingness to bless. Jesus also told us that if our earthly father knows how to give us good things, so much more our Father God. It is hard to imagine our Father God withholding any good thing from us.  Also, the apostle Paul said that whatever we can think of asking God, He is able to do far more. There is no limit to God’s resources.  

Believe that God wants your needs met and your desires fulfilled, and you are positioning yourself to be greatly blessed.

Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com