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It doesn't appear that humankind knows
what it really needs. It is very tough
to think for ourselves and to think rightly.
It seems that one wrong decision could
send our lives spiraling, which puts a
lot of pressure on the decision-making
process. Knowing what we want and knowing
what we need are two different things.
Even the people in the Holy Bible, who
appear to be all one with God in everything,
have trouble understanding the difference
between what they want and what they need.
For instance, if we take the character
Peter Simon, who was one of Jesus' disciples,
we would know that before he meets Jesus,
he was just an ordinary fisherman in a
small town. What we may not know is that
he was the macho man of the bunch who
was captain of his crew, and everybody
looked up to him. So if we were in his
place, we would probably feel pretty content,
thinking we have it made in life. We may
even think that this is all we want or
need out of life. Now, deep down, we all
know that the Sunday school response would
be, "God is the only one who knows
what we want because He created us and
knows everything." This would be
correct. Look what happened to Peter!
He was top man without a care in the world,
and then Jesus comes along and shows him
a whole new meaning to his life. Jesus
was his savior when Peter did not even
know he needed one. But God knew what
Peter needed. So, if we let God make our
choices, everything will fall into place
according to God's plan.
I have had experiences like this. All
through my life I have pretty much achieved
everything that I set my eyes on -- from
grades, to sports, to toys, to whatever.
One of my goals was to achieve a certain
level of play in soccer by a certain age.
When I did not achieve that goal, I was
devastated. I thought that my year was
ruined, that I had been sent all the way
back to the starting gate, and that all
my hard work that summer had been wasted.
I later talked with my mom, and she suggested
that maybe God has another plan for me,
and maybe I was meant for something else.
Maybe I had not learned something earlier
in my life that I needed to learn. Maybe
I needed to step back in order to move
forward.
It turns out that I did indeed need to
take a different path -- other than the
one I had intended for myself in order
to achieve my goal. It turns out that
the path I needed to take had very good
benefits, which helped me address issues
I had no idea I had. It also brought to
my attention that maybe I was not as good
as I thought I was. Now, at this present
time, I have achieved my desired level
of play. So the journey proved to me that
while I do not always know what I want,
there is Someone who knows what I need.
That someone is God. This journey has
brought me a whole new light on trusting
God.
When we trust God and allow God to make
our decisions, God fulfills our "needs."
The most obvious thing that I can think
of that humankind needs -- especially
in times of emptiness, frustration, fear
-- is really love for each other. When
we rely on God for help, we can always
help each other, no matter what the predicament.
We can be certain that all we have ever
needed or will ever need has been right
here with us the whole time.
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