What I Need

Sometimes what I need isn't really what I need.

 Did you get that?

For example, I think, "I need this baby to stop crying!" while God thinks, "You need this baby to cry so that you can learn my patience, so that you can better appreciate her joyful times, so that you can put yourself aside and think of someone else's needs for a change."

Sometimes, what I need, isn't really what I need!

Or I think, "I need to get this laundry done!", but God thinks, "You need your laundry machine to break so that you can learn my faithfulness, so that you can learn to stop in the middle of something and pay attention to what really matters most, so that you can grow to appreciate your laundry machine more."

Sometimes, what I need, isn't really what I need!

Our lives are filled with scenarios like this aren't they. I know I pray for there never to be any bumps in the road, any illnesses, any failures, any longings. What a blessing it is that God doesn't always answer MY prayers the way that I want Him to. He allows us to struggle, to fall, to be in want, to get sick, to fail for a reason. He allows these things because He loves us. He loves us enough to not leave us where we are, so He sends these trials our way to shape and mold us. 

"One of the devil's key strategies is to convince a Christian that God has no future for failures. The truth of the matter is, failure is sometimes the very experience that enables God to later use us and still get all the glory." -Jim White

We may not be able to come to a point where we welcome hardship with exuberant expectancy at what God is going to do. Maybe, though, if we keep these things in mind, we'll be able to have a little more peace while we wait for the trial to be over. God does have a plan. It is a good plan. He sees the forest in spite of the trees. Hang in there!