Today I volunteered with several friends and family members at Turkey Outreach. Along with hundreds of other volunteers we helped to pack approximately 7,000 boxes of Thanksgiving dinners for needy families in the DC Metropolitan area. It was such a humbling and amazing experience. Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life for the ransom of many (Matthew 20:28)." It was a beautiful thing to see so many Christians following the example of Jesus and serving together outside on a cold Saturday morning. Not only were they serving the community, but they were serving God by sharing his love with the community. It was an awesome thing to witness how God can work in the hearts and lives of so many.
It is often difficult to differentiate a need from a want or desire. I want a bigger home. I desire a new minivan. I want for my husband to have a job with a bigger salary (to help finance the bigger house and car) and a job that he will really enjoy. I desire new shoes and new clothes. I do not NEED these things. Focusing on what I do not have takes me further from God and what Christ selflessly did for all of us on the cross. Today was an important reminder to count my many blessings instead of focusing on my wants and desires. I have a wonderful family: a loving husband and two beautiful girls, and another child on the way due in March. My pregnancy is going well and so far it doesn't look like I have developed gestational diabetes again. I have lots of extended family and friends that I can count on for support in every way imaginable. I have a home. I have a car. I am able to stay at home with my children while my husband works to support us. My family has enough food to eat and clothes to wear. My children have toys to play with. We are not in need. In fact, we are immeasurably blessed, probably more than we deserve!
Those 7,000 families who will be receiving the Thanksgiving boxes, they are the ones in need! God promises to always give us what we need if we trust and believe in his son. He tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33)." Yes, he will provide all that we need -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He knows what these things are more than we know ourselves. He knows what is best for us -- even if it doesn't appear that way at first. We don't have the ability to see and know everything as he does, so we may think something is to our benefit to only realize later that it is not. We often realize our so-called "needs" come with strings attached and result in negative consequences, including heavy regret.
The Apostle Paul wrote, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Phillipians 4:11-13)." The secret is to lean and trust in God's plans and provisions despite the circumstances. The secret is counting our blessings, those that are obvious and those in disguise. I read a devotional that really touched me this week about a boy who was thankful for food he found in the trash because he was so hungry (http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2011/11/the-treasure-of-thrown-away-food.html?utm_source=encftdevo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=encftdevo). Having plenty makes us take the little things for granted. But there truly is so much to be thankful for. For God is good and he has a plan and is watching out for each of us. We just need to have faith and trust in Him.
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