Need

A much loved and re-read novel tells of a twenty-something spinster living with her mother and aunt in a dreary, unloving environment.  She has developed a heart condition and covertly seeks the counsel of a local physician who informs her by mail that she has but a short time to live.  With nothing to lose, she throws off the restraints of her meddling and belittling family that previously hindered her from fully living.

She leaves her sanctimonious mother's home to care for a dying motherless friend whose life was marked by disgrace; the daughter of a local drunkard.  While there she befriends and falls in love with a mysterious man known about town as "notorious."

Several weeks after she assumes her role as care-giver, her friend passes away and she is left to deliberate her future. She has not told her family of her impending demise, but she cannot imagine returning to her former dreary existence, so she asks her notorious new friend if he will marry her.  To her surprise, he agrees.

With the freedom to discover herself and the remarkable world around her, she is transformed from a dull spinster to a fascinating woman.  Her appearance improves, and even the usual colds and other indignities of an unhappy life desert her entirely.  In the end, a moment of extreme happiness cures her heart condition--inaccurately represented by the doctor who had received startling news just as he finished examining her and erroneously sent her the letter that was to go to another patient.

The thing that strikes me most fervently each time I read the story is how it took the belief that she had nothing left to lose before she determined to take her life into her own hands.  When she believed she had no other options, she silently suffered through ignominious insults and grievous family gatherings.  Once her perspective altered and she had no fear for the future, she went after that which she wanted:  to be needed.

While good works will not ever gain us anything from our Heavenly Father who has already given us every good thing, they do serve the purpose of satisfying a God-given desire to feel needed by someone.

It is natural to exchange with others the experience of feeling and meeting needs. My wish for you is that you learn how to offer and graciously receive love and care from others as an expression of God's wonderful love.  May you always feel a need to experience His lavish love and ultimately the satisfaction of believing you already have it.