NEED vs. want is a concept hitting pretty hard right now. Especially in this climate of our country that is in such a state of economic chaos.
In the context of the Bible, there are numerous instances where it talks about the “physical” and the “spiritual.”
We NEED food, we NEED shelter, we NEED warmth. We NEED guidance, we NEED salvation, we NEED redemption.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have been comfort shopping. I was doing it since last fall, when I’ve been sporadically laid up with my health issues. It me feel better to buy a little something, something here and there. Amazon.com has my evil little shopping buddy.
What makes all of this worse is that because I have not been feeling well, I haven’t been working as much and, in this insane political and economical climate, our family should be saving every penny. Especially when we’re trying to pay off two kids college tuitions.
Today I ventured out to The Jewel, and I needed just a few things. Still not feeling well: weak, walking through the store kinda groggy, forgetting things, bumping into things… zombie shopping. I get to self check out. It is just as much a routine for me to donate a little extra to whatever charity comes up on the keypad, as it is to enter my Jewel membership number.
I am lucky, I am blessed, I can buy groceries, and every time I do that, I can take a teeny amount of that and have it to help somebody else. Nothing off my back. The people in NEED may be nameless and faceless to me, but it requires no effort to make a gesture.
Finishing up my groceries, I put them in my little bag I brought from home. I hit the big “pay” button and when it asks me if I want to donate money to a family food donation fund, I accidentally hit no.
I kind of caught myself. My fingers were flying fast. But at this point, I have to get out of there… Not feeling well, need to put my groceries away and lie down. I throw the bag in the cart. I start to walk away, just a little bit. Just a few steps.
IT IS A DOLLAR. Pull yourself together!
I can’t. I can’t do it. Because I know that at 3:45 AM in the morning, I’m going to be laying in bed upset at myself. I was probably standing there for maybe 60 seconds but I had 5000 thoughts flying in my head at the same time. Always such a strange thing. But one of those millions of thoughts was “What if everybody forgot to hit ‘yes’ today. I bet they add up and people will suffer.”
Above the self checkout machine is a row of candy and gum. I grabbed a pack of peanut M&Ms. Yeah, I’m diabetic…so? Add, donate, pay.
I felt totally better as I pushed my cart to the car, packed up the groceries and headed home.
It’s an important reminder that we need to turn our compassion from ourselves to others. No support can be too small.
Referring back to the greedy shopping, last week I finally pulled myself together. I stopped making doom scroll purchases and I reminded myself to ask the question: Do I NEED this or do I do I just want it?
Philippians 4:19
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
God does provide the NEEDS, we just keep the faith to find them. And if others need guidance and help, we can take them by the hand and lead the way.
Love you.
HEATHERLAND 