By Michael Kelley

The book of Judges reads like a broken record. Time and time again, the pattern is the same: The Israelites fall into idolatry. The Lord raises up some kind of oppressor to wake them from their spiritual lethargy. The people ask the Lord for help. The Lord then raises up a judge - Othniel, Shamgar, Gideon, Samson - to deliver them. And then the cycle starts all over again.

Within that pattern, there are two pretty consistent phrases that appear over and over, with some variation:

• The Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord…

• Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord…

But let’s look a little deeper at this second phrase. Yes, the people are crying out to the Lord, but there is no indication that this is a cry of repentance; no acknowledgment of their own idolatry; there is only what they are experiencing in the temporary moment. 

It is a cry of pain. The people only felt their most acute need - the need of the moment. And the Lord responds, but it’s important to note that He responds not because of the wholehearted commitment of His people but only out of His own love and compassion. 

Now were the people in need? Were they in pain? They certainly were. They were in need of deliverance. They felt the pain of oppression. But there was a need behind the need that they did not acknowledge and potentially were not even aware of as they had forgotten the Lord. 

And this is very typically the way with us as well. There is almost always a need behind the need, one that we often are not aware of or at least not ready to acknowledge when we experience our own kind of trouble.

We find ourselves in pain, or desperation, or in need of something in the moment, and we call out to the Lord. But most of the time, there is a need behind the need.

So let’s say, by way of example, that you are out of work, and so you pray that God would provide you a job. 

Now do you need a job? You certainly do - but there is probably also a need behind the need. You may also need a greater trust in God for His provision. Or a greater vision of what your career should be. Or how dependent on your work you have become as your source of identity. These are the deeper needs - the needs of the heart. These are the needs behind the needs.

And God knows about both of them. He knows you need a job. But He is also well aware of the need behind the need. And He is concerned with both of them. 

Does God want you to have a job so that you can earn money? Provide for your family? Give generously? He certainly does. And does God want you to come to a point in which you see your job in the proper place, trusting in Him and Him alone for your ultimate source of security and identity? Again, he certainly does. 

He will meet both of those needs in the right way and at the right time. But that method and timing ought to make us at least consider this: If it seems as though God is delaying in meeting what we perceive to be our need, is it possible He is delaying so that we might become aware of the need behind the need?

Surely the answer is yes. So if you find yourself praying about the same thing today as you did yesterday as you did last week or even last year, then perhaps it is worth asking the Lord something else today. Continue to pray for that job, but also ask the Lord to open your eyes to the need behind the need. And then see if He won’t meet you as the provider of both in His grace. 

Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.