But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4:19

I believe that our society greatly exaggerates the amount of things that we need in our lives. One of the areas I’ve found to be the most inundated with unnecessary desires (hereafter referred to as wants) is parenting.  There are an infinite number of gadgets that promise a baby will sleep longer, self-soothe, or remain entertained if you simply purchase the product.  I contend that babies have a relatively low number of needs-a food source, a safe sleeping arrangement, clothing, and diapers are a few necessities that come to mind-and yet we find ourselves constantly searching for the next baby-gadget.  It is so easy to become trapped in the saturation of our own wants, but instead we ought to focus on what we truly need: the desires we’ve been given by Jesus Christ.

For the sake of consistency, I would like to share another example of a desperate want from the realm of parenthood.  There was a period of time before Josh and I were blessed with the pregnancy of our son. We were unable to get pregnant for several months and it was devastating; but the truth is that I had confused a want with a need.  I desperately wanted a baby, but I didn’t even consider that my true need was to become pregnant on the Lord’s timing.

My struggle with becoming pregnant is an example of a time that I was unable to understand my God-given needs.  Paul assures us in the verse I quoted from Phillipians that Christ will supply our needs, but nowhere in the Bible does it say that we will be given whatever we want.  Psalm 37 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, we will be given what we desire–and you can be sure that if something brings delight in God, that “desire” is a true need in your life.  

To conclude this blog, I would encourage you to pray that God would align your life with your true needs.  Although I’ve walked through some trials that I didn’t necessarily want, I believe that He has been with me through each of them.  Allow Him to walk with you, and you will discover that His needs for your life are infinitely more beautiful than anything you could want.