need-giver and need-meeter

I was talking with a dear friend the other day and she shared this thought with me, God has made us with needs, and he has also made us with desires for those needs to be met. On a physical level, we as humans have simple needs such as food and rest. Without food we will die, without sleep, we will die. But we weren’t just created with these needs, God also created our bodies to desire food and rest, to meet these needs. What if we didn’t desire to eat? What if eating was painful? What if we didn’t have taste buds? What if sleeping was torturous? What if we didn’t have the ability to sleep?

On a deeper level, studies show that humans have needs for joy/happiness. Happiness contributes to the overall health of a person. At the same time God has also given us deep desires to be happy. Because we have these desires, we search for happiness. We find temporary happiness through all sorts of things, but not lasting happiness. Our deepest longings for joy can only be met through Jesus Christ, because God has provided us with him. And God did this for us to satisfy our longings and to display his character. “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” (1 Tim. 1:16)

“Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart.” (Ecc. 3:11) Or as Blaise Pascal says, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing.  It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”

God is gracious, and wise to make our bodies with desires for needs and also provide us with the thing that satisfies our deepest need!