The Gift of Need
By: Missionary Team
Advent is about a world in need of a savior. During this liturgical season, the Church recalls Israel’s longing for a messiah, and anticipates Jesus 2nd coming. It’s a time to recognize that the here and now can never satisfy. Ultimately, this time of waiting points to the need of every human heart for union with God.
During this past year, I’ve realized my need for a lot of things. I’ve felt the deprivation of special occasions passing without getting to celebrate with friends and family. I’ve longed for a sense of security, the ease of pre-covid planning of social events, and to drink coffee inside a restaurant. I’ve wished I remembered an umbrella at outdoor Masses.
I’ll be honest; I like instant gratification. Experiencing “need” is not fun. I’d rather skip that uncomfortable question: “What will I do if such and such a need I have is not met?” I’d prefer having the answer. It’s scary not knowing how a solution will come about.
But this is a good and necessary question to wrestle with. Though prayer in 2020 has often felt like one big wrestling smackdown, taking this question before God has born a lot of fruit in my spiritual life. As a Catholic living in a first-world lifestyle, I fall into the false belief that I have more control of my circumstances than I actually do. When the illusion of that control is broken, I panic, and I run back to God. I’m down on my knees in prayer, realizing only He can provide. He wants to know my needs; He wants me to run to Him.
Scripture has been a tremendous comfort when I’m confronted with a genuine need I can’t fulfill on my own. In scripture, it’s moments of need where God works the greatest miracles. His fatherly concern is most evident in difficult situations where people cried out to Him.
One of the scriptures I spent a lot of time reflecting on this fall is the book of Tobit. I’ve heard Tobit called the Bible’s sci-fi section. It boasts an angel in disguise, a man-eating fish, and even a romance. It’s one of the Old Testament’s unforgettables.
The book begins with the main character, Tobit, who is suffering from blindness, and Sarah, a woman experiencing ridicule from her servants, crying out to God in prayer. Their raw prayers are followed with the hopeful verse, “At that very time, the prayer of both of them was heard in the glorious presence of God. So, Raphael [the angel] was sent to heal them both” (Tobit 3:16-17).
From the start, God has a plan to fulfill Tobit, Sarah, and their families’ needs, but they don’t know that yet. I love that the characters have messy lives; it’s relatable. They wrestle with sickness, poverty, grief, disappointment, and fear of the future. They cry and argue. If it were 2020, they might even have tried a sourdough starter.
But in their mess, they are real with God. They continue to present their needs to Him and praise Him.
Even though he lives with the challenge of blindness and being in exile, Tobit encourages his fellow Israelites:
”Give thanks to him [God], you Israelites, in the presence of the nations, for though he has scattered you among them, even there recount his greatness. Exalt him before every living being, because he is your Lord, and he is your God, our Father and God forever and ever! ... In the land of my captivity, I give thanks, and declare his power and majesty to a sinful nation” (Tobit 13:3-6).
Tobit let painful situations increase his trust in God. After all, God isn’t the one who needs to hear prayer. Praying reminded Tobit, and reminds me, that I am watched over by a loving Father who knows my needs before I ask him. Experiencing need has given me the motivation to express myself to God in a more authentic way than I have previously. It has prompted me to trust and rely on His love.
Bringing my needs before God even changed how I prayed. Sometimes my prayers this year started out, “Jesus, I need things to change, to get easier.” But through reflection, I found I didn’t need things to get easier. I needed to trust God to walk with me in those moments. Knowing He was there and will always be is more powerful than having a solution.
This Advent, I’ve learned that to experience need is a gift. I am more comfortable with waiting for God to act. The poverties of 2020 have challenged me to have faith, that despite the messiness, God is writing an amazing story in my life, that will reveal His wisdom and care for me. Like Tobit and Sarah, my prayers are heard in the glorious presence of God. I can have confidence that He is at work, and whatever needs I experience will help draw my heart closer to His.
