Need is the great gift of God.

I read this in a book recently, and I have begun to wonder: do I believe neediness is a gift?

Often, it feels like a burden. To need something from someone.

Sometimes need leads to disappointment, broken trust, or hopelessness. Other times, it leads to loneliness or despair. To avoid those feelings at all costs, we instead attempt to build and sustain lives of independence, relying on no one but ourselves. But what happens when we let ourselves down – when we didn’t measure up to our own expectations of how, who, or what to be in this world? What happens when we make a mistake?

We, too, place unfair expectations on people in our lives to show up for us, delight us, and give us purpose. What happens when they don’t come through the way we’d hope?

We were never made to satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts on our own – neither for ourselves nor for others. God created us for communion with Him, and the lack we experience can only be filled by the presence of the God who made us. The One clothed with splendor and majesty, wrapped in light as a garment, who rides on the wings of the wind. The One who somehow saw it very good to create humanity on the sixth day.

To the One who holds it all in the palm of His hand, who parts the seas and brings the dead to life, we bring our neediness and see a new possible outcome. We don’t hide it away, but lay it as His feet, and instead of burden and disappointment, we’re met with relationship and presence. In His arms, need begins to feel like a gift because in Him, our need finds its home.

In our lack, our desperation, our longing, and our need, God shows us His heart, and reminds us the treasure it is to be His Beloved. He shows us that we’re safe to rely on Him. We can trust in Him, and lean not on our own understanding. We can find rest in His arms as we cry out for help because He has been faithful from the beginning.

I don’t have to hold myself up because God does.

I don’t have to have all the answers because I can trust God with the details.

I don’t have to make things happen in my own timing or strength because it’s the grace of God that keeps me, and His peace that covers me.

I don’t have to fear the terror of the night because He’s fighting my battles. He’s working even when I don’t see.

The same is true for you because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; He shows no partiality.

Gospel rest is the fruit of need placed in the hands of God.

Jesus said, come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. When we come to God, He helps us. He speaks life and truth over us. He reorders our desires, and becomes the Lord of our lives once again.

…

The work of becoming begins with remembering our brokenness before a worthy God – and remembering what he did for us by sending his son to die on our behalf. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, there is no atonement, no forgiveness of sins, no eternal life. We. Need. Jesus. As we remember the love that led Jesus to endure the cross, we would do well to remember how desperately we need Him, too. And as we strive and seek to deny our dependence, or place our trust in other things, let us hold fast to this simple truth:

We. Need. God. We always have, and we always will.

We have need because God created us to need Him. And while He gifted us with the will to choose, He did not remove this ache from our hearts. We were created for dependence on our Creator – to build a life of communion on His sure foundation. Despite our best efforts, God is the only One who can satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts, and we will spending our whole lives trying to fill it with self, others, and idols until we discover Him.

Even when we find solutions that rely on our own strength,

and we feel like things are going well without Him;

even when we don’t believe anyone is trustworthy,

and when we think hyper-independence is better –

all of these even when”s have a breaking point. The way through is accepting the sheer fact (and truly wonderful reality) that we are needy and God is worthy.

…

In Luke 10, we read of Martha – scattered, busy, and frustrated. We read of Mary, present, slow and aware of the presence of our King.

Mary and Martha both had need, but Mary knew the one thing she needed. Mary knew where to find her sustenance, her daily bread and living water. Martha tried to fill the void with earthly things, and in her self-sufficiency and independence, she tried to build a life sustainable without the power and presence of Jesus.

Mary surrendered her duty to sit with Jesus, knowing his presence changes everything. Before all the other preparations and tasks, she chose to sit on the floor beside her Beloved Savior because she was in awe – struck by wonder and gratitude that before her sat the rumored Messiah. She desired, above all, to hear Christ’s voice, and encounter the inner workings of his heart.

Mary desired intimacy. Martha prioritized duty.

…

I’ve always empathized with Martha – with all her walls and responsibilities – but I’ve aspired to be more like Mary. I’ve wanted to walk slowly enough to ponder, linger, and dwell in the presence of the Lord. I don’t just want to be someone who knows about God, but intimately knows Him. 

The invitation for you and me is the same: to desire God more than you desire anything else. Place everything you have and all that you are before Him, and watch how He transforms all that He touches. Wait for Him to shuffle around all your priorities as He becomes the one thing you need.

The world doesn’t need more Martha’s. It needs more Mary’s. We don’t need to add to the list of people stretching themselves far beyond their capacities and limitations, living in a constant state of hustle and burnout. We need more presence, and less hustle. We need more people who desire to become more aware of His presence and power in our lives.

The world needs more people working from rest, instead of for it. More people who recognize it’s the most worthwhile activity to seek the face of Jesus.

What if God doesn’t want you to do anything but recognize that you need Him?

What if He doesn’t want you to figure it all out on your own, but to surrender and delight in Him?

What if He doesn’t want you to stuff your sorrows away, but bring them before Him so that He can speak life and peace into your situation?

What if He’s not afraid of your honesty, or your questions?

What if He just wants you to see that you need Him, and to surrender to Him as a response? Need is the beginning of hope, faith, and trust. Need draws our knees to the floor, heads bowed and fingers clasped.

Need is the beginning of transformation through Christ. Need lays the path to surrender and humility – when placed in trustworthy hands.

I’m so glad I can depend on God.

I’m so glad it’s not up to me, or another broken human (who’s out there doing their best but still falling short) to fill the void. I’m so glad I’ve found the one who can actually fill the cracks and spaces that longing and desire have created in my heart and soul. I’m so grateful that God is my Father, Friend, Savior, Lord, and Shepherd.

He desires to be yours, too.

Some of us have lost sight of the beauty and wonder in surrender. We’ve forgotten the weight of God’s grace at work in our lives. We act like laying things at the feet of Jesus is punishment, but releasing burdens into the hands of the One who knows all, sees all, and is in all is a blessing.

It’s a relief that the world doesn’t rest on our own shoulders, but in the hands of the One who holds all things together. It’s a relief that the Person we need is able to satisfy that need, too.

To you, reader, I ask: where are you trying to do it all on your own? In what have you placed your trust? How have you embraced your need as a path toward relationship with your Creator? Where might you need to refocus, reconsider, and rearrange?

Take a deep breath. Remember the one thing you need has never been hard to find. Run to the Father, and let Him transform your heart and in turn, your life.