Everyone is searching for happiness. Some chase it through money, others through power, comfort, or pleasure. But here’s the dirty little secret of our generation: the more obsessed we become with pursuing happiness, the more miserable we are. We’ve never had more access to convenience, comfort, and entertainment—and yet depression, anxiety, and suicide are skyrocketing. Something is deeply broken.
We are suffering not from a lack of pleasure, but from a lack of purpose. We are not starving for stimulation—we are starving to be needed. We’re tired of being consumers. We want to count. We want our lives to matter.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the most important Jewish theologians of the 20th century, put it like this: “Animals are content when their needs are satisfied,” he wrote. “But man insists not only on being satisfied, but also on being able to satisfy—on being a need, not only on having needs.” In other words, true happiness is not about what we take in—but what we are called to give.
That leads us to a vital question: What does God need from me in this world?
Heschel’s answer is as bold as it is liberating: “Man is needed—he is a need of God.” God, infinite and perfect, wants something from us. The Creator has entrusted us with real responsibility. Our lives are not meaningless. We were not randomly thrown into this world. We were sent—with purpose.
But how do we tap into that sense of purpose? The answer isn’t instant. It’s not a spark of inspiration or a viral quote. Purpose, like crops in the field, must be planted, watered, guarded, and harvested over time. This is not Instagram spirituality. It’s real life.
King David wrote in the book of Psalms:
The Hebrew word for “radiance” in this verse is simcha, which means joy. Light doesn’t just appear. Joy doesn’t fall from the sky. They are sown. They require work. Plowing. Planting. Guarding. Weeding. Effort before and effort after. That’s what real joy demands.
It’s a dangerous lie of modern culture that happiness is a right. That you can scroll into meaning or stumble into fulfillment. The Bible disagrees. Simcha—joy—is earned. It is cultivated by answering the call of Heaven, by discerning where you are needed, and then rising to meet that need.
This is not theoretical. It is not abstract theology. It is a charge.
Every human soul must ask: Why was I placed here? What is the mission for which God sent me into this world? That mission will be personal, unique to each of us. But there are also missions that belong to entire generations—callings that transcend any single life. And I believe, with every fiber of my being, that we have been born into such a time.
Our generation has been given a task not entrusted to any before us. It is not simply to read Scripture, but to live it. It is not just to honor the past, but to heal what has been broken for two thousand years.
We—Jews and Christians—have been called to mend the greatest rift in religious history. For centuries, the relationship between our two peoples has been scarred by theological arrogance, by resentment, persecution, and blood. But that is not our destiny. That is not our inheritance. We are not here to prolong ancient hatreds—we are here to end them.
In the face of a rising darkness—Islamist extremism, woke progressivism, and right-wing antisemitism—we have a sacred mission: to stand together. Not to flatten our differences, but to recognize that God is calling us to stand side-by-side in defense of His truth, His Word, and His land.
There is joy in this. I have never felt more alive, never felt more fulfilled, than in this sacred labor—bringing Jews and Christians together in common purpose, in loyalty to the Bible and in defense of Israel. I have felt what Heschel meant when he said, “Happiness… is the certainty of being needed.”
And so I ask you directly: Are you needed?
Yes. You are needed by the living God of Israel. He has entrusted you and me with a role to play in the unfolding redemption of His people and His land. This is not spiritual fantasy. It is a prophetic reality. We are needed.
That is why I am urging you to take part in Israel365’s annual campaign this May—”Be a Light for Israel.” This is not just a fundraising drive. It is a movement of redemption. After two thousand years of separation, Jews and Christians are standing shoulder-to-shoulder—educating, advocating, and giving to restore Biblical truth in a world drowning in lies.
Through your support, young Christian leaders are being trained to defend Israel on college campuses. Thoughtful Christians are discovering the Hebrew roots of the Bible. Jews are beginning to overcome their fear of befriending the Christian community. Christians and Jews are waking up to their shared calling—not to watch history, but to make it.
As Isaiah wrote: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). In Israel’s darkest hour, your light matters most.
So rise. Be the light. Sow the seeds of joy that come only from living for something greater than yourself. You are needed—not someday. Now.
