On my way to work (after a doctor appointment) I stop at Popeye’s. I order the $5 big box, chicken strips, only to get to work and have a chicken breast and thigh. Now, I could have been upset about it and simply thrown it away but I would still be hungry. The chicken is still good so I’ll eat it. What does this have to do with a devotional? I’ll tell you … Sometimes you have to eat what you get even though it’s not what you ordered. Sometimes you have to receive what God gives even if it’s not what you prayed for. Sometimes you have to accept the hand you’ve been dealt even though you were hoping for better cards. Sometimes you have to accept the fact that the odds aren’t going to always be in your favor, this time! Yes, I know I paid for chicken strips but they’re both the same price so I didn’t lose anything. I still received something to put inside to stop my growling stomach. Oh, I know that isn’t the car you wanted but the car note is what you needed. I know you’re ready to get married but be thankful for the time God is giving you to prepare yourself to be a husband or a wife. See, I’ve come to realize that God gives us what we need and not what we want. Oh, it’s quite possible that this can be the same thing but think about the times it isn’t.
You should be glad about that. God could have given you that man, you wanted but instead He gave you the one you needed and you find out later the one you wanted is an abuser. God should have given you that woman you begged Him for but instead He gave you the one He knew would help you in your ministry and you later found out the one you wanted, wasn’t first lady material anyway. Oh, yes; God could have given you that house you kept driving by but the next time you went, you found out it was built wrong and needed a lot of work so be grateful He gave you the one you needed. God could have given you that job you kept crying for but instead He blessed you with a career and you later found out why the turnover rate was so high on the one you wanted. Beloved, God gives us what we need and He’ll supply our every need, at His time. What do you do in the process? Wait with patience, praise and faith! So stop acting like God owes you everything you ask for especially when you know some of the things you’re asking for don’t belong to you anyhow. Trust God because He knows. And be glad He doesn’t give us everything we ask of Him because then most of us would be tore up, raggedy, divorced 13 times, in bankruptcy every 7-10 years, jobless, homeless and sick.
— “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Lakisha, the Author 