Unhooked: Holy in a Hookup Worldনমুনা

Day 4: Needs

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And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. - Colossians 3:15

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Once, the people of Israel built a golden calf.

In Exodus 32, they seemed to lose their patience with Moses while he scaled a mountain. They wanted a better leader—so in Moses’ absence, they decided to make “gods” to replace him.

They recruited Aaron, who then collected their gold, melted it, and molded it into the shape of a calf.

He built an altar in front of the calf and threw a festival. At the party, the people of Israel danced around their new gods, but they didn’t yet know that man-made gods would never meet their expectations.

That’s because idols never do.

But the Israelites created them anyway because their faith in God wasn’t deep enough yet to trust that He would meet their needs.

Is yours?

Sometimes, we are surprised to find that the stuff we struggle with while we’re dating is the same as the stuff we struggle with when we aren’t.

Maybe you have a girlfriend now, but you’re still restless. Or your boyfriend is committed, but you still feel insecure.

Without even realizing it, we may subconsciously treat significant others like the Israelites treated the golden calf.

And they will never meet our expectations.

We expect the addition of an intimate relationship to alleviate what ails us. We expect a significant other’s presence to fuel us—to be our primary source of happiness, peace, security, hope, value, and comfort.

Who in the world could satisfy all those needs? That role doesn’t belong to significant others—it belongs to God.

Giving that role back to Him frees you to be truly fueled for whatever you’ll face in your lifetime, in intimate relationships and outside of them.

Pray

God, I need peace. And I am so glad that You are the source of it. I’m ready to let You meet the needs that only you can meet. Please help me to discern what those needs are.

Reflect

What needs have you expected past relationships to meet for you? When the relationship ended, did your self-image and self-esteem diminish? Who or what should actually meet those needs for you?