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Neediness In spite of myself, I have recently become more appreciative of God’s care in showing us what we are like in the places no one else can see. Sometimes I find it difficult to not panic when He cuts deep and opens my eyes to my true condition. Recognizing our neediness is painful and emotionally intense—NOT FUN. But, only when we see and admit our infirmity are we ready to receive the cure. Recognizing God's provision and our neediness go together. We cannot fully see one without seeing the other. A lot of lip service is given to God’s provision, but rejoicing in our neediness is another story. Oftentimes we cling to an underlying hope that we will not have to admit to great neediness (or as Paul termed it, weakness). We like the idea of His strength, but don’t care a whole lot for what is required to display God’s strength. The thought of being set free is nice, but the revelation of our captivity is not a happy experience. Strength for weakness. Provision for neediness. It seems like it should be a welcome trade--and it is--but at the same time it is not pleasant. Joyous, but not pleasant. As I was talking to God about this, He responded: It always feels like death and dying when I reveal something to you. It is not because death WILL occur as much as death HAS occurred, is occurring, and will continue unless I cure you. You’ve been dead all along; you just did not know it until I showed you. That got me to thinking about the time Jesus read Scripture to the folks of His hometown synagogue (you can read it in Luke 4). I think it is safe to assume that those people did not recognize their own neediness as much as they did not recognize Jesus as Messiah. We are no different. Recognizing our condition is the first step to being willing to receive His healing. Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor. Unless we recognize our hunger and poverty, we see little reason to pay attention to the Anointed as He preaches the good news. And how can we know that we are hunger and poor unless He shows us? Jesus came to preach release to the captives. We have no desire for release until we know we are captive! Unless He reveals the areas of our lives where we are held prisoner, we do not know we are captives needing release. Jesus came to give recovery of sight to the blind. Recovering our sight is not something we feel we need…until we know it has been lost!! We need realization of our blindness before we will want to receive our sight. Jesus came to set free those who are oppressed. Why yearn for freedom when we are comfortable and accustomed to our oppression? We need God to reveal our true condition to us before we will desire to be free. In so many areas of our lives we are poor, blind, oppressed and held captive, with no realization of our neediness. But there is hope! God reveals what He intends to heal. When we find ourselves in the pain and anguish of seeing ourselves as we are, may we know that He is also the One who heals what He reveals. Deadness has been our true condition all along; we just did not realize it. God in his mercy reveals our illness so that He can be our balm! Passage for Reflection Prayer
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