God supplies our needs; not our wants

There is a very big difference between something we need and something that we want. A need is something that we must have and is essential, whereas a want is something that we would like to have, but is not essential.

Source: Be Overcomers

In January 2016 I had an old van that I used for work. It was quite a small van but it served its purpose, however I needed an upgrade for all my tools, equipment and materials and therefore decided that I needed a much bigger van. After a bit of searching I found a van, not too far from where I lived which seemed to suit me down to the ground. The van cost me £3000 and I thought to myself, new year, new start, new van and I was quite excited. The trouble is, from that point onwards everything seemed to go downhill. I had a few problems where I couldn’t get the engine to start so I had to get a friend of mine to come and take a look.  My friend did some work on the engine and everything seemed to be ok, until the next morning when the van wouldn’t start at all! The van was taken to a specialist garage who managed to get the van going again and I was relieved and thought ‘great, I’m back on the road again’. A few days later however, something else went wrong and I broke down again and this continued to happen for the best part of three months. I think, in all I must have broken down about eleven times and it was costing me an absolute fortune, in fact I suspect that I must have spent more than double the amount I had paid for the van, on repairs.

At the time of my van troubles it is also worth mentioning that I am self-employed and as you can imagine, having an unreliable van had a major impact on my work. If I’m not working, I’m not getting paid so it was essential for me to get the van fixed. I remember having an argument with God and asking Him, ‘Why me?’. His answer really surprised me when He told me ‘you must tithe’. I thought to myself, ‘that is not exactly the answer I was looking for. I’ve already spent thousands of pounds and now you want me to tithe as well!’. I decided to carry on as before and tried to get the van fixed again and a week later it broke down again, I got it fixed again and then it broke down again.  I had another argument with God because I clearly was not getting anywhere and He gave me the same answer; ‘you must tithe’. I thought to myself ‘how can I tithe, I’ve got no money left?’ Another week went by, my head was spinning and I did not know what to do. Throughout this entire period, God still provided me with plenty of work, Praise God. I spoke to my Pastor and he told me exactly what God had told me ‘you need to tithe’. I thought ‘great, that’s three times I’ve heard that now, God must have a sense of humour!’. It is only now with hindsight that I can understand where He was coming from but at the time, when I was in that time of trouble my head was filled with fog and desperation.

Source: nancyaruegg.com

Matthew 6:31-33 tells us ‘So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’. With my van problems, at first I thought, I’m going to carry on under my own strength, but I got so fed up that I ended up not driving the van at all because I couldn’t be bothered anymore. I ended up hiring a different van! It was at this point that I thought to myself ‘you know what, I’m going to step out in faith and tithe.’ The scripture from Matthew 6:33 came to mind; ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ and I felt an idea planted in my mind to go and buy a brand-new van, so that if anything went wrong with it then it will be the manufacturers problem, not mine. I went to a Dealership and one of the sales team talked me through the different options that were available to me. The van I had originally bought (the one that kept breaking down) was the one I really wanted, however I realized that this was not what I needed. I ended up getting a new blue van which was far better (and much more reliable) than I could have ever imagined. God knows exactly what we want and He knows our needs. Every time we go through times of trouble God helps will help us out, He knows us so well, He knew everything we needed before we were born. I can see now that I was getting my wants mixed up with my needs and God showed me time and time again that He will provide all of my needs, which is very different from my wants, as long as I was prepared to step out in faith. Remember God’s Word tells us to ‘seek first his kingdom’. First means, before anything else, and as you can see from my testimony it took me a while to really understand and grasp that.

In Philippians 4:19 God tells us that all our needs will be met; ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus’. To think that God will provide all our needs is very comforting however we can often mis-interpret this, believing that all our wants will be met instead. There is a very big difference between something we need and something that we want. A need is something that we must have and is essential, whereas a want is something that we would like to have, but is not essential. My testimony provides a good example of how God taught me the difference and that in all circumstances at all times I should seek Him first rather than try to do things under my own strength. Praise God and thank you for Jesus.

Author: Phil Jones

May God bless and enrich your life

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