"Be confident in making your needs known to one another. For each of you, to the extent that God gives you the grace, should love and nourish one another as a mother loves and nourishes her child." --St. Francis, Rule of 1221, Chapter IXWhen I have some "thing" that comes into my life three times within a short span of time, I get excited because I feel there is a message for me personally in it. It makes me sit up and take notice, and I don't want to miss the opportunity to glean something for my betterment in it. This morning I read today's entry on my Freedom in Christ blog. I wrote this year-long devotional in 2003 and posted it on-line in 2011. I've been rereading it this year to see just how far (or not) I've come since writing it. Today's included a quote from Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book Simple Abundance, "....it's more important for us to get everything we need. Like infants, we feel contentment when our essential needs are met. Be courageous. Ask yourself: what is it I truly need to make me happy?" And because I'm also rereading Simple Abundance I came across the quote a second time. Now with the St. Francis quote, I've read for the third time the importance of making my needs known. But this "needs" message is not done with me yet, for I received a fourth message in my daily e-mail from the Moravian church this morning with today's scripture. They always conclude with a summarizing prayer:
"Sustaining Creator, in our weakness you give us strength; in hardship, an oasis; in persecution or calamities, protection. You are everything to us, dear Lord. Beyond our temporal concerns you bring love and hope. May we be such beacons in the lives of others. Amen"
God gives us everything we need by way of strength, comfort, and protection, but He often uses others to meet these needs. By letting others know what our needs are, we are enabling them to be a beacon of God's love and power in and through our lives.
