Is God Enough? - Part 2

The title implies several things: we have needs, sometimes we are tempted to meet our needs with things and ideas other than God, and there are degrees of expectation about how these needs are to be met.

What are our needs? According to Abraham Maslow[1] our needs fall under the following categories, and order of priority: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Our physiological needs include breathing, food, water, sleep, and excretion. Safety needs include security of body, employment resources, morality, the family, health, and property. Love and belonging needs include friendship, family, and intimacy. Esteem needs involve self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, and respect by others. And finally, self-actualization needs include morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts.

Although we could say that at first glance most of these seem reasonable, what Maslow’s theory is missing is the acknowledgment of the Creator of humankind, and the “Operation Manual” He has written. Who knows better what our needs are than the Person who designed us?

It is obvious that Maslow assumed human life is more than putting food in a body, digesting it, and then disposing of it. There’s more to life than eating, drinking, and surviving. And yet, who determines what those things should be?

Jesus said: “Life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment” (Luke 12:23). We need to fulfill our physical needs in order to maintain our physical lives, but Jesus said that “for all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Luke 12:30-31). Can we come to the point where we can say, “God is enough, and I have everything I need in Him,” even when we lack food, raiment, shelter, friends, family respect from others, and employment?

Where does the idea that we cannot find victory and fulfillment in life unless all our physical and emotional “needs” are met, come from? When our expectations of love and friendship fail us, do we fall into hopeless depression? No doubt, lacking these things can be a great temptation for us, but we are called to endure “hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). And we are called to seek the Kingdom of God above all things, and be willing to die for it!

So, again, the question for us is, is God enough? Is seeking His Kingdom enough, even when everything else is lacking, perhaps knowing we will never again see the light of day as we languish in a dark, cold, and bug-infected prison cell? Is God enough when we have been abused, and feel rejected of our parents, our siblings, our peers?

Do we believe what God said through Paul, “I shall supply all your need according to my riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19)? Remember, that without faith it is impossible, impossible, to please Him; “for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

---

[1] Abraham Maslow (April 1, 1908-June 8, 1970), was the founder of what is known today as humanistic psychology "Dr. Abraham Maslow, Founder Of Humanistic Psychology, Dies". New York Times), and the creator of a theory of psychological health (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) that organized the fulfillment of human needs according to their respective priority.