By Carol Fell

 

         

Recently, my younger daughter and I were talking about the importance of our personal walk with the Lord and having a daily quiet time with Him and in His Word.  In that conversation she mentioned how she can’t expect her husband to meet all her needs.  Only God can do that.  I agreed with her because I know that is true for all of us.  No person can ever meet all our needs.  Yet, how many of us do look to other people to be our ‘all in all’, to meet the needs we have.   

        Many times we become disillusioned with relationships or even the Christian faith because of people.  We put our faith and hope in our spouse, our friends, our family, our pastor, our church family, etc., and expect that they will meet all our physical and emotional needs.  We become disillusioned, hurt, and perhaps even bitter when eventually they can’t be everything we want them to be because they are imperfect just as we are.  We discover that they can’t meet all our needs in the way in which we want.   

However, as I learned a long time ago, my faith and hope are not to be in people but in God.  He is the only one who can be my ‘all in all’, who will meet every need I have and love me for who I am.  As much as I love my husband, I know he can’t do that, nor can I do that for him.  We both know the importance of our own personal walk with the Lord and letting the Lord meet those needs that only He can.    

I know that in my last article I quoted from Oswald Chambers, but I need to do so again.  I read this the day after the conversation I had with my daughter, so I don’t think is was by accident.  It is appropriate to what I am trying to say here.   

“It works in this way-if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; we are demanding of a human being that which he or she cannot give.  There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Why Our Lord is apparently so severe regarding every human relationship is because He knows that every relationship not based on loyalty to Himself will end in disaster.  Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, never bitter.  Our Lord’s confidence in God and in what His grace could do for any man, was so perfect that He despaired of no one.  If our trust is placed in human beings, we shall end in despairing of everyone.”  (from My Upmost for His Highest, page154) 

If you are now in a relationship where you are finding yourself frustrated or disillusioned, perhaps you should check to see if you are expecting more from the other person in that relationship than he or she can give.  Maybe the key is for you to look at your relationship with the Lord and see if you are looking to Him to be the One who meets all your needs and to Whom you give all your faith, hope, and trust.  No human being will ever be able to give you the love, encouragement, inner peace and all the things you desire and need.  Only Jesus can do that.  Look to Him to be your ‘all in all’!