What do I need today?

Have you ever considered that we are getting from the Father's hand exactly what we need today? This reminder of the greatness of sovereignty as a confidence booster to deal with disappointment came again from Dwight Peterson at the ESF Youth Seminars. God knows exactly what I need today. He sends it to me not to crush me but to build me -- to strengthen my faith and trust in Him or to draw a key area of weakness to the surface so that it can be removed and /or repaired.

As Dwight mentioned this question, it triggered a whole set of emotions tied to a wilderness trip that I took over 5 years ago with Dwight's bosom bud, Dennis Wilhite. Each day Dennis asked us, "So what does this group need today?" I tried to answer Dennis' question with "to get to point B", "to rest", "to stay dry", "to enjoy being fed spiritually", etc. My answers all revolved around my limited understanding of what God had in store for us. We missed destination goals and plans, we were exhausted and often got wet. My goals of spiritual feeding were more along the avenue of sitting around the campfire and chewing on some deeper theological truth, etc. I missed the value of the question. I began to loathe the sounds of the question each morning or at every juncture of the trail. I began to realize that I had no idea what we needed. I think I even blurted that out by the final stretches of trail!

God, looking down through the halls of time, saw that we would be in the Canadian wilderness in May and that we needed to be stretched in some areas of self-reliance and comfort. He stretched us in ways that have caused us discomfort, pain, panic, brokenness, and repentance. We have never regained our original shape -- old things are passed away, behold all things are becoming new! One little question -- one huge impact.

What do you need today? Your answer may sound a lot like more money, or bigger houses, or a more receptive audience, a brighter future, a more comfortable state in life. Yet God knows best when to give you comfort and when to give you discomfort. So Paul came to the conclusion;

"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."

Philippians 4:12-13, NIV

I need the Spirit of God to help me see the things that need to change, to give the power to change, to help me accept the things that are out of my control, to be wise enough to know how to navigate his course set for me and to win. I need a stronger relationship with God through today's turn of events and to respond to them in a way that brings Him glory. I need to bear more of the image of Christ in my life. And again, all I need to do is ask for help.

Begging for help,
Mike