What Your Needs Are Really Telling You

“My deep need calls out to the deep kindness of your love.” Psalm 42:7a TPT

Shock hit her face as she realized the diamond from her wedding ring was gone. It was an unforgettable moment. I was working in our family’s music store, and remember watching my mom reach up to grab something and the horrified gasp as realization hit: something precious was missing. Even then, my little elementary self knew that I needed to do something about it. I couldn’t stand by and let the diamond stay missing, I had to look for it. Within moments, I was on the floor searching intently, determined to find the diamond. My eyes combed over, and over, and over the carpet, until a sparkle of unmistakable worth caught my eye. A victorious surge overtook me as I picked it up, and handed the diamond to my Mom. A treasure of matchless worth had been found, and triumphant, I was the victor. 

In the days that followed, I remember my Mom getting the ring fixed. It seemed to take on a whole new glow. Something invaluable had been found, and like the final piece of the puzzle falling into place- the ring was made complete, whole, and restored. 

How much more do we need to see the deeper things, the things of the heart, do the same?

Our hearts get challenged by the weight and pull of the world. 

We get busy, overwhelmed, and burdened. 

Sin and distraction come calling, and before we know it, something precious and essential goes missing. In the wake, we’re left wondering what’s missing, and where to look. 

As I’ve been chewing over the above passage for awhile now, I’m reminded of some key pieces to the puzzle of us that is all too often, and all too easy to forget. We, as broken people in an imperfect world, need love. And like the last puzzle ridges finding their place, to complete the picture, we won’t find it until we return to the greater picture of God’s love. It’s the only place our need truly fits.

“My deep need” I don’t think there is any way that we can deny the depth of our need. We need hope. We need assurance. We need kindness. We need things to be made right. We need anxiety washed away and to be met with peace. We need comfort…..and most of all we need love. Like something precious within us that’s gone missing, we forget to look for it. But the very thing our heart is longing for, is the very thing that God supplies. Just as the verse says it “calls out to the deep kindness of your love” The deep need in us, calls out for the deep kindness of an unimaginable love. A love that will fill the deep need. And, like the discovery of a missing diamond, all is right in the world when it is returned to its rightful place. Our hearts were made for the love of God, and only the love of God can fulfill our need for his love.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes my ‘need’ overwhelms me. I get overwhelmed by a task in front of me. I need patience with my kids. I run dangerously low on grace for others who’ve hurt me. My heart wells with bitterness or offense and I need to forgive just as I’ve been forgiven. What if we viewed what we need as a warning light to drive us to the Father instead of away from him? Those very same triggers and challenges are fully capable of being met and supplied in the love that is ready for us. Our need, calls out to be met by the abundance of his kindness and love for us.

What do you do with your need?

Before you go looking for the right thing in the wrong place, or wrong thing in the right place….from one sojourner to another, let me save you the trouble and give you some tried-and-true advice: don’t go anywhere else for what only God can give you. Don’t take your diamond to distractions, numbness or lesser lovers to get fixed. They will never fully satisfy in you what only God was meant to give you. Instead, bring the deep needs of your heart to the One who promises to meet and fulfill you. Remember his love and kindness friends, your diamond-of-a heart will only find its home in Him. 

So much love, 

Joy