Maybe it’s a parent. Or your spouse. It could be a roommate, cousin, friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, or even God. Whoever it is, you have an opinion about how well they’re meeting your needs. After all, you’ve probably read articles or books that emphasize the human need to feel secure, loved, and significant, and of course that resonates with you. You’ve heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and no doubt you expect physical and psychological well-being. And the media is constantly bombarding you with messages about what you deserve from your people. So, of course with all of this information about human need, combined with longings from your heart, you expect God and closest relationships to meet these determined needs. However, there are reasons to have caution.

Defining Your Needs

It’s good practice to periodically review whether the perception of your needs has caused you to begin to make unreasonable, inappropriate demands of others, consciously or not.

The Origin Of Your Needs

If you listen to the world or to the Enemy, your perceived needs will grow by the day. If you ask God to reveal your true needs, and who should meet them, everything changes.

An Exercise To Examine Your Needs

The more humans ruminate on immediate circumstances, the harder it can be to believe our needs are actually being met. Instead, consider having another method for addressing your needs:

• Rehearse general needs the Savior has already met, such as: providing you with salvation, an inheritance, and a belonging in His family.
• Write down Biblical promises God has fulfilled and will continue to fulfill through time, such as: keeping His covenant with you, feeling every pain with you, and enabling you to accomplish what He calls you to do.
• Document personal needs God has met and continues to meet uniquely for you, such as: the people who show up in your life at a time of need, opportunities and timing He provides, and His protection, both known and unknown.
• Make confessions of times when you had a faulty view of your needs and how they were being met. Be open to the Holy Spirit showing you how you’ve failed to be used by God to meet needs of others, and think more on your responsibility than lack from others. Finally, before you confront someone with his/her failure to meet some of your needs – pray, seek godly wisdom, and first evaluate your own successes in tending to their needs.

Getting Your Needs Met

• You already have your most important needs met in Christ.
• Be careful that additional “needs” aren’t really “wants” fueled by the ways of the world.
• Beware of looking to others to meet needs that only a perfect God can accomplish.
• Release your loved ones from the burden of meeting all your needs, purpose to get rid of the idolatry of expecting people to fill you, and turn to the Lord as the only One who can give you what you need most.
• ENJOY the exceedingly, abundantly, more-than-you-can-imagine-or-ask-for ways that the most creative Creator wants to meet your daily needs!

Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Mt. 6:8)