Life Lesson V - "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me"

“My needs are simple.
My wants are extravagant.”
- Miss Piggy

There is a difference between what I need and what I want. Truth be told, my needs are few - I need relationships, food, clothing and shelter. Those are the minimum requirements. Reading them on the screen is sobering to me because they are so minimal and because I have always treated them as “givens.” Of course I have friends, I am obviously not starving, I have a closet full of clothes and I have always had a place to live. But this is not true with everyone. Many others in this world go without one or all of basics. Millions live without genuine friendship, millions are starving, millions are naked and millions are homeless. But that knowledge doesn’t always stand in the way of my quest for more.

So why do I crave all of the stuff? Augustine spoke of a “God-shaped void” which exists in each of us. More often than I would like, I find myself cramming everything other than the Father into that emptiness. Toys, money, power, prestige, success, image, pride, self-sufficiency, selfishness – all of it gets stuffed into the void…but it does not fill the space. So rather than step back and reassess my priorities, I redouble my efforts by dumping still more stuff into the hole. But, it still does not satisfy because it was never meant to be enough. Only the Father can provide what the Father has promised.

Our Lovely Lord was clear in his teaching about the Father’s provision for his children. In Luke 12:22-31 Jesus says,
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

My disappointment with the Father is not driven by his failure to meet his obligations. My disappointment with him is caused when he does not meet my expectations. He promises to give me what I need – not to give me what I want.

“There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontentment. And there is no greater disaster than greed. “- Lao-Tzu

My Fifth Life Lesson - The Father promises to provide for what I need - not to give me what I want.