“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
No one likes to be thought of as needy. We prefer other adjectives for ourselves, words that reflect strength or wisdom. Think about your own needs for a moment. It’s easier to think of someone else and how to help them but can you identify where you are have been needy lately?
There is a tool we can use to help us see our own need. It is the tool of paying attention to any conflict in our lives. Conflict often reflects unmet needs. Think about it for a moment.
Take a moment to recall the last encounter you had with conflict. Most of us don’t have to dig very far into our memories. Sometimes the unmet need is basic and easy to remedy such as the need for sleep. Yet often it is much deeper. The need to feel valued and heard or the need to be accepted or respected can cause conflict from a wounded heart.
Control and manipulation often finds their root in an unmet need. Trying to manage the outcome of all that is going on around you is exhausting and causes conflict at many levels.
Think about where conflict exists in your life and ask God to help you identify any unmet need, yours or someone else’s that may exist at the root of it. Begin to pray about those needs.
When you see potential conflict on your horizon… stop… and use the opportunity as a tool to build into your own life or to pray into another’s. Look honestly at yourself and GROW through conflict.
G- Give God the opportunity to reveal to your heart any unmet need that may be at the root of this conflict. Be open to seeing your own need and to praying for the needs of another. It will help dissolve hostility too.
R- Recognize that God is the only One who can meet all of your needs.
O- Open your heart to God’s help, asking Him to be the Source you need for that unmet need in your life. Consider asking another Christian to pray for you in this.
W- Walk beside another in prayer as you pray for their unmet needs asking God to be their source in meeting the needs of their soul.
God promises to be the Source for all of your needs.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
Father God, Please help me to identify the unmet needs that exist in the conflicts I find myself in. Help me to turn to You to meet the deep needs of my heart. Help me to pray for the needs in the lives of those I have conflict with. Be the source of all I need today. In Jesus’ strong name I pray, Amen.
How does that “conflict often reflects unmet needs” change the way you see the challenges in your relationships?
by Gail Rodgers
Used by Permission
FURTHER READING
• Finding the Good in Conflict by Bill Strom
• Every Conflict – Devotional d Strife – No Thanks! by Gordon Fleming
• Every Conflict by Max Lucado
