If you haven’t eaten in days, you need food. If you can’t sleep at night, you need help. When you find yourself without heat and it’s freezing cold outside, you have an urgent need. What about when you are in danger? That’s a need, too. Often those physical needs are easy to recognize and find help for. But what do you do with needs of your heart? Your soul? Your mind? Those needs are important, too. It’s time to wrap your arms around how to meet your needs in healthy ways.
People Have Needs
It’s as simple as that. People have needs – you and I – and every person on the globe. Many of our needs are not physical. They are emotional, relational, spiritual, and even psychological. These needs should be addressed. So, where do you turn? What should you do?
There is one rock-solid provision that will help in your time of need. No matter what kind of need. Every single time. There is a place you can turn. There are some things you should do.
Whether your needs are visible or not, God is for you! He wants to help. God is rock-solid. He has given many promises He intends to keep on your behalf. You might struggle to believe it’s true in the face of deep disappointment, loss, or loneliness. Long periods of waiting can bring discontent and doubt. And then you wonder if your needs are on anybody’s radar. Are they really important, or do you just learn to live untended?
How To Meet Your Needs
I believe God intends to meet your needs. Phil. 4:19 says, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” Everything belongs to God. He is over every domain, both seen and unseen. The fact remains – God loves you deeply. He wants you to succeed and do well in your life, and He has a special place in His heart just for you.
If this is really true, and I believe it is, then why are so many followers of Jesus walking through life with unmet needs? Is it timing? Is there a pecking order and you’re at the bottom? Perhaps you feel you’ve been deceived into hoping God will supply your needs. Then there’s the living sacrifice thing, where you are supposed to be alive, but not really. So many questions. So many unmet needs. Much confusion. And we wonder about needs getting met.
Those kind of thoughts and questions get pretty jumbled up. It’s best to side-step most of those questions and instead go after something else that will actually make a difference. That something else is offered through two provisions.
Two Provisions
The first provision is God, Himself. He has promised Himself to you in every life situation. (Read that sentence again!) He promised to never leave you or forsake you. His intervention is for you. Ps. 50:15 says, “Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” Then in Is. 41:13, we find – “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” God also said He would never leave you or forsake you. (Deut. 31:6; Heb. 13:5)
The second provision is His Word. Now, that doesn’t just mean owning a Bible. It means anything and everything that comes out of the mouth of God can be trusted – utterly. His Word is like the word of a gentleman. It’s given with the intention of being kept. Mt. 24:35, Mk. 13:31, and Lk. 21:33 all say, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” God is “fresh off the pages of Scripture” – for you! Friend, that’s significant!
God’s Names
God has many blessings and good things for you to enjoy. He also knows how difficult life can be. With the presence of sin, this world is in continual tension, and that’s challenging to live with.
So, God names Himself for you. He knows you cannot understand many things that happen in life. For these troublesome times, He gives you the gift of Himself through names He calls Himself. Scripture is filled with names of God. And every one of those names is given for your benefit. God intends to meet the needs of His kids. Let’s explore.
A Piece of History:
In the Old Testament when God adopted the Hebrew people as His own, He didn’t have a name.
When God approached Moses to go to Egypt to set His people free, Moses wanted to know who it was that spoke to him from the burning bush. Who should he tell the people of Israel sent him to set them free. The story is recorded in Exodus 3. Since God didn’t have a name, God told Moses, “I am who I am.” God was simply saying that He is, and that state of “always being” crosses all time and conditions. Then, He specifically identified what He wanted to be called: I Am. So, God, Himself, gives you provision #1. Himself.
Gradually, His name became known as YHWH. His name was revered and considered so holy that it wasn’t written or spoken in the common tongue in a way that could be pronounced. Gradually, vowels were added and it became “Yahweh.”
Then God gave provision #2. Throughout the Scriptures, God calls Himself many names. The God with no name, names Himself for you, to meet your specific needs. God created you with needs. That is part of His plan. He intends to meet all your needs as you depend on Him in the rhythms of life.
Psalm 103:13-14 declares God has intimate knowledge about you. He knows how you are formed and remembers your limitations. He has compassion on you when you trust and obey Him – like a loving father cares for his children.
God did not create you to be self-sufficient, but rather to need Him. Self-sufficiency is man-made. God made you with needs. He is OK with that. Are you?
Exercise
The following chart contains some names God calls Himself for you. You can download this chart – Gods Names Worksheet Form to use in your device and fill out the interactive fields.
Ponder what each name means to you and be encouraged in your “neediness.” Let go of being self-sufficient and turn to God who calls Himself “I AM” all things for you. It’s time to decide if you will let God meet your needs by faith through provision #1 and #2.
| SCRIPTURE | GOD’S NAME | WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU |
| Psalm 62:7 | Rock | |
| Psalm 62:8 | Refuge | |
| I John 3:1 | Father | |
| John 15:15 | Friend | |
| Matthew 12:49-50 | Brother | |
| Psalm 28:7 | Shield | |
| Exodus 15:26 | Healer | |
| Hebrews 13:6 | Helper | |
| Psalm 23:1 | Shepherd |
Fill Out Your Own Chart
Now it’s your turn. Complete the downloadable chart. Identify your needs. Then search the Scriptures for God’s names that cover each of your needs. Claim God’s power and provision through each name and apply promises He’s given over your life. God will always keep His promises. Let Him define what it will look like – and the timing. Just trust Him, obey Him, and love Him back. God delights in the person who trusts His love.
A name you could start with is the name God selected centuries ago for the God-Man who would be born as a baby. The name Emmanuel means “God With Us.” This name strongly suggests God wants to meet a common deep human need: loneliness.
Heart Of A Child
Your disposition toward God reveals whether you really believe Him. If you come to Him as a child and simply tell Him your needs, and then claim how He names Himself for you, God will meet your needs. BUT it will almost always look different than you picture in your head. Just because it’s not what you want it to look like doesn’t mean God hasn’t met your need. Why not accept His help and timing?
If you relate to God with the faith of a child, with a smile, and with gratitude in your heart – you will very quickly find God is for you! Jesus was extremely partial and compassionate toward children. He said, “Let the children come to Me . . . for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Mt.19:14) What is your heart like toward God?
Helpful Scripture Promises About Needs
These are only a few of many verses that talk about God meeting needs of His people. All of them are activated by faith.
- “The Lord is my Strength and my Shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.” (Ps. 28:7)
- “You are my Comforter in sorrow. My heart is faint within me.” (Jer. 8:18)
- “I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious Cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” (1 Pet. 2:6)
- “He is my loving God and my Fortress, my Stronghold and my Deliverer, my Shield, in whom I take refuge.” (Ps. 144:2)
Application
Thoughtfully fill out the chart with God’s names that meet your needs. Then add your own.
Portions of this article are from my book Reach Back: Intentionally Reaching Back to God. This book will help you grow your relationship with God through action steps, thoughtful questions, and helpful ideas.
