The Lord once told the story of David eating bread set apart for priests. He explained why David ate the bread:
And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? (Mark 2:25).
The Lord differentiated having need and being hungry. David was both hungry and wanted to eat. You can be hungry and be fasting, or you can be hungry and want to eat.
Many other scriptures make distinctions between need and want. The Lord “healed them that had need of healing.” (Luke 9:11) It does not say he healed all the sick, but only those that had need of healing. He only healed those who desired it. The Lord said, “joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)
Everyone is a sinner, therefore everyone needs to repent. But not everyone chooses to recognize that. Not everyone wants to.
There is a difference between what you have and what you appreciate. There is a difference between what you could have and what you want. You don’t always want what you need, and you don’t always need what you want.
You can only have joy in what you appreciate. You can only have joy in what you want.
Of what value is a gift if it is not desired, used, or appreciated? It has no value beyond how much it is desired, used, and appreciated. Only that which is valued can bring joy. Consider the Lord’s teachings from Matthew 7:
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7)
What does it mean to ask? Does it just mean to verbally request? What does it mean to seek? To knock? What does it mean to seek with all your heart, might, mind, and strength? What would it require if seeking required all your desire, all your capacity, all your intelligence, and all your effort? Those who do this will find what they seek.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? (Matthew 7)
In order to have joy in a gift, you must appreciate the gift. Part of God answering a request for “bread” is ensuring that the recipient knows what it is like to really be hungry. Part of God answering a request for “a fish” is ensuring the recipient knows what it is like to only have bread to eat. The purpose of God’s work is not to relieve suffering, but to increase joy. Therefore, the more the petitions we make are focused on relieving our suffering, the less recognizable will be his responses, which will always wend toward helping us grow in appreciation for what we take for granted.
One way to learn to appreciate something is to experience what it is like to be without it. A glass of water is much more valuable to a person who has spent three days in the desert than to a person in normal life.
Whether you lose something you once had, or whether you comprehend what it would be like to have something you have not yet received, in both cases learning to appreciate something requires suffering. The Lord himself was said to have learned “obedience by the things which he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8) You learn obedience by the things you suffer because by suffering, you learn the wisdom of submitting to what God teaches you: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)
Value is determined by what you are willing to pay for something. Those who are prepared to receive all that God has must be willing to pay any price for it. If you are unwilling to do, become, not do, or not become anything , you set limits on what you are willing to receive, and you do so because of a lack of value. What you are able to receive is limited only by what you are willing to suffer in order to receive it.
Suffering is what shows us what we need. It is what unlocks our willingness to do what it takes to obtain the joy we say we seek. Consider the example of a certain blind man that was healed by Jesus:
35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight. (Luke 18)
This man deeply felt the loss he experienced by being blind. His motivation was sufficient not only to seek Jesus, but to actively overcome his disciples, who told him to go away and be quiet. Instead of listening to the crowd, he shouted that much louder. Had he not been willing to act so radically, he would not have been healed.
There are many joyous outcomes in this life only available to those who are willing to shout past the voices of the mainstream. To help you marshal the motivation sufficient to encounter them, God will help you comprehend your unmet needs through either taking away what you thought you had or causing you to comprehend what you have yet to obtain. This will help you find joy in what you otherwise would not have appreciated: “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.” (Proverbs 27:7)