18 May 2011

What We Really Need

I love pinterest. Like really love it.

Pinterest is a digital warehouse of photographs, and I love seeing all the beatiful pictures, the inspiring ideas, and the wonderful products.

Also, I love how handy it is. Instead of saving pictures to your computer and organizing them into folders on your hard drive (yes that's what I used to do), you can pin your pretties to virtual bulletin boards that allow you to add a caption, categorize them, and easily find them later.

But lately I've been seeing a lot of pictures with captions like "I need this" or "I have to have" or "this is it!"

Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things I think I "need," and don't let this post fool you... I've definitely tagged a few lovelis as "must haves."

 But what do we really need?

For me, the answer is two-part and pretty simple.

We don't need much, yet we need it all.

We don't need stuff and things. If we don't get those gorgeous new shoes we won't stop breathing. If we don't get that fancy promotion, or that wonderful house, or the perfect man, or the best body, or the most money, we won't die (although it may feel like it sometimes).

We don't need much to physcially survive. Food, water, shelter. The basics.

But we need it all. We need (and already have) all of God's love. We have all of his attention and affection and grace and we absoultely need it all.

Living in the fullness and wholness of the Lord means that we have been given everything and that our needs and wants on earth should be few. Our stock is in heaven and our eyes should be forever looking forward to that ultimate treasure.

Does it mean that God doesn't want us to be happy with the little things while we're on earth? I don't think that's what it means at all. That pretty dress, those dangly earrings, the beautiful desk that you found on the side of the road and helped your husband painstakingly restore for you (yea, you should have seen the look my  hubby's face when I hauled that thing home).

These possessions and treasures are wonderful and make our moments on earth sweeter. But they should never keep us from the real prize.

As the story of the necklace in my previous post says, our real pearls are in heaven, but first we have to give up what's holding us back.

10 comments:

  1. "Living in the fullness and wholness of the Lord means that we have been given everything and that our needs and wants on earth should be few. Our stock is in heaven and our eyes should be forever looking forward to that ultimate treasure."

    Thank you so much for sharing.
    I've been struggling lately with loss of friendship. Not via death, but by way of changes of lifestyle, habits, and demographics. I feel so alone a lot. My husband is amazing, but I just don't connect with any of my female friends anymore. Thank you so much for sharing this. I needed this cold hard truth!

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  2. oh goodness, what a refreshing post. my husband and i talked all about this yesterday - we're making some changes that will forego the material for the real stuff and in a culture that is SO material, it's hard to find the encouragement! thanks for being the encouragement i needed :)

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  3. Thank you. Sometimes reading a post like this just confirms what has been in the back of your mind but you lacked the words to make sense of it. Beautifully written and a great photo to accompany it.

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  4. Such a sweet refreshing post to remind me of what we really need. Thank you! I had quite a "whiney" I want post earlier this week, so this is a good reminder to keep my focus in the right place. Thank yoU!

    Rachel
    http://www.holy-craft.blogspot.com

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  5. Yes, totally agree! It's so hard not to slip into that "need" mindset. My husband has to remind me daily. We like to spend less to give more and it's hard not to want to keep "our" money for ourselves and be selfish with it. Realizing that we're just the "keepers" of the money, and that it's not eternal helps me =)

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  6. PS, taking your button and found you from dot in the city...

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  7. so true. lovely post :)

    Emily
    texasnj.dayeightmedia.com

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  8. Laura, I have to tell you thank you for confirming what God told me a little earlier (not even an hour ago). I am 33 and married and we went to Las Vegas a few weeks ago and we went to the BIG M&M store and I got a flower shape M&M holder with M&M's in it. I didn't want to open it because I wanted to remember mine and Matthew's first trip to Vegas together. We have only been married about 7months now. I had displayed it in the guest bathroom and my niece kept asking about it and I kept telling he I am not opening it right now. Well, just a little while ago, she dumped it everywhere and to do that had to rip the tape off to do that! I was upset but remembered really fast that God has my treasure and my M&M's stored in heaven and it really doesn't matter. I know this sounds stupid. It was the sentimental part of the gift why I was upset. But all is good and then I get this! Thank you!

    Blessings,
    Heather
    heatherdmullin@gmail.com
    http://hdstokesphotography.blogspot.com

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  9. Great post Laura. My Pastor once told us that God has already given us everything we need, Him. All the cool stuff He gives us here on earth is just extra cuz he digs us! Thanks for the reminder.

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