There’s no need to rehearse the fact that foundations are being shaken in this country and around the world.

In the “easier” days, many Americans had the emotional energy to be focused on personal improvement.  Now, increasingly, the concern is shifting to having basic needs met. Many are now weighed down by the false shame of need.

In one of my journals from the 1990’s, I found an entry I had written about a businessman who sat with my husband and me for one hour, wisdom pouring from his lips.  We had never met this man before that day.

He said many profound things.  One is relevant to this post, “Don’t be embarrassed by need.  Need is what God supplies. Fall in love with need, because this is where you will see God at work…giving to you lovingly out of His resources.”

But what about feeling ashamed because we are in need?  Psalm 25:3 tells us the only reason for feeling shame:  Willful sin.

Being in need may have come from poor planning, circumstances beyond our control, greed or coveting.  So, make practical changes in lifestyle.  Revise plans.  And, where repentance is due, let’s do it.  Then we must get “unstuck” and turn afresh to a powerful, loving, Heavenly Father, who is merciful to those who call upon Him.

The Psalmist gives this hope:  “Passing through the valley of Baca (Hebrew for ‘weeping’) they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.  They go from strength to strength…” (Psalm 84:6-7a)

Notice, too, that the passage says, “they”. Others also are weeping from the strain of life.

Therefore, this is a key time to function as community…and certainly a vital time for individuals in the Body of believers to not harden their hearts, but to heed what is written in 1 John 3:16-18:

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

The term “knowing the LORD” is often used casually. This knowledge of God is often confined to the realm of personal devotion and knowledge of Scripture.

However, Jeremiah 22:16 clearly states the LORD’s gauge for measuring if we truly know Him, while speaking of the righteous:

“He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.” It’s clear: How we care for the needy and afflicted that either cross our paths, or whom we seek out, is a litmus test of our knowledge of God.

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”  (Gal. 6:10)

To those in need: Perhaps your need is what the LORD will use to reveal His personal love for you.

You may ask, “Am I supposed to believe God loves me when I have these stressful and difficult circumstances?…and besides, He feels a million miles away.”

Thirty years ago I read a powerful book,  The Silence of God, by German theologian, Helmut Thielicke.  Thielicke lived during the Nazi regime.  The last part of the following paragraph has stayed with me.

“But now hear the great mystery of this silence.  The very hour when God answered not a word or syllable was the hour of the great turning point when the veil of the temple was rent and God’s heart was laid bare with all its wounds. … Even when we thought He did not care, or was dead, He knew all about us and behind the dark wings He did His work of love…Truly the silence of God is different from that of men…The silence of God and of Jesus (Yeshua) is not of indifference.  It is the silence of higher thoughts.  It does not imply a silent destiny.” (pgs. 14, 15)

The LORD is not indifferent.  He allows us to be in need because the needs we face cause us to give pause to consider our lives, the meaning to life, and the very real limit of our ability to solve our problems.

He wants to show us that He is the Source of life, the One “in whom we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

I still remember the comfort I received as a child when I heard the words from the song,  I Believe–  “I believe above the storm the smallest prayer can still be heard.  I believe that Someone in the great somewhere hears every word.”

That Someone has a name… In fact, He has many names that describe His person, magnificence and character: His name is Yehovah (Hebrew for ‘Jehovah’) or Yahweh (YHVH), which means “covenant keeping God”.

He is Yehovah our righteousness; Yehovah our redeemer; Yehovah our provider; Yehovah our rock, refuge, deliverer, sanctifier; Yehovah our healer, defense, banner, shepherd, etc.

By searching Topical Bibles online for the names of the LORD found in their Scriptural context, we can see clearly that the One upon whom we are calling for help is more powerful, more knowledgeable, more loving, and more personal than we can imagine.

The problem is we have often created God in our image (!) and relied on our thoughts about Him, rather than what His Word has revealed about Him.  Then we go about worrying and fretting, forgetting that He upholds the universe by His mighty Word of power! (Hebrews 1:3)

Sounds like who He IS answers to anything that could trouble our lives.

Listen, He knows you’re in need.  Nothing takes Him by surprise. You’ve got to pray–to entreat Him to lead you out of the dark forest of fear, despair and lack.  Humble prayer is the catalyst that activates divine activity.  Confessing unbelief in Him, and His ability and desire to act, will also remove static from your prayers.

Now, after sincere and humble crying out to Him, expect your path to cross someone or something that can help you, since He generally works through people (i.e. dollars and job listings don’t fall from heaven).

Perhaps you know the old story of the man who is drowning and the LORD sends a dinghy, a boat, and then a ship to save him.  He refuses to use them because he wants the LORD to act directly on his behalf, and he drowns.  Don’t resist receiving help from others, though this may be uncomfortable.  Our hyper-independent society has conditioned us to view dependency on others as almost a foreign concept.

I think those days are coming to a close.