You hold my world in your hands is the scariest sentence. Jesus, you are all I need is a beautiful lyric and a harsh reality. Jesus is all we need. If that is true, then there are some logical conclusions. I don’t need my job. I don’t need my savings. I don’t need my wife. I don’t need my health. I don’t need my children. I don’t need my doctor. I don’t need my parents. I don’t need my sister. I don’t need my brother. I don’t need my abilities. I don’t need my talents. I don’t need my stuff. I don’t need my house. I don’t need my car. I don’t need my friendships. I don’t need my retirement fund. I don’t need my phone. I don’t need my photos. I don’t need my education. I don’t need my experiences. I don’t need my ministry. I don’t need my music. I don’t need my life to matter. I don’t need my life. Fill in
the blank. I don’t need my _____________.

But if it is true, that Jesus is all we need.
If that resonates.
If that takes root.
If that reorients us.
If that redefines us.
If that takes over, then we are liberated.
We are freed.

When every need is taken care of, sufficed, and fulfilled, we are able to enjoy everything else.

i am reminded of my vision problem.  YOU have given me 20/20 vision in my eyes, and my heart can barely see what YOU are capable of.  i have this world that i live in.  it was made for me by my parents, and then my teachers, and then my friends.  i let them bend the world around me, to make sense of what i saw with words that worked just well enough to let me move on and forget it.  my world is not real.  it isn’t YOUR real.  it isn’t THE real.

i’ve never been to africa.  my friend jon is in uganda right now.  my cousin went there, and it changed her.  shawn went, and he could barely put into words what he saw.  and my grandparents have been there.  they gave years of their lives to helping people there.  joanna went, and it continues to shape her life.

i have a mortgage.  i have a car payment and a good job.  and a coffee habit.  and 2 computers and a cell phone and an electric bill.  i’ve got a/c.  i’ve got amex, mc, and visa.  i’ve got 2 guitars and barely enough talent to warrant owning one.  i’ve got books.  like, a lot of books.  i have 2 nintendo 64 consoles and 2 tvs.  i have 4 pairs of jeans, 10 pairs of shoes and at least 2 dozen t-shirts.  i’ve got my own energy efficient washer and dryer.

and when i watch this video, which should be uplifting.  it should be like, “praise YOUR name.  YOU are doing a great work in these kids and in these leaders and in these villages.”  but instead, i watch this video, and i have knots.  my stomach is in knots.  because i know that YOU have what is real and i settle for my real world.

i want more than just ok.

More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.  -Switchfoot