Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Trusting God to Give Us What We So Desperately Want

“’Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?’

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.’ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.” (I Kings 3:7-15 NIV)

I talked to a student recently who shared with me about how his girlfriend had broken up with him and he now saw it as a good thing because, in his words, he had loved her more than the Lord.  I could relate.  I was not much older than him when I fell in love with a woman who claimed to be a Christian, but who turned out to be a stumbling block for me. I compromised what I knew was right in order to be with her and, thankfully, she broke up with me, for I had made her an idol.

Even so, I still struggled for years after with pursuing what I wanted—a romantic relationship—rather than the Lord Himself.  At the heart of it was my fear that if I let the Lord have His way with my life, He would not give me what I thought I most needed.

Often it is very difficult to trust God to give us what we so desperately desire. Instead, we give priority to those things—romance, money, status—because we’re so afraid if we leave it up to Him, we won’t get them.  But what we learn from this story of Solomon is that He does not wish to deprive us of the things we want, but wants us first and foremost to seek Him and what we know is best.  I am sure Solomon longed for wealth, desired to live for many years, and not to have his rule threatened by external enemies, yet his first request was for wisdom in serving his subjects, putting their welfare first over his own.  

What we learn is because he first sought what was best for others, he received also what he wanted.  The young man with whom I spoke said he is seeking to follow the Lord and trusting the Lord will provide him with a lifelong companion in His time.  This is a wise course to take.

The picture we paint of God in our minds is often one where whatever we want He will not let us have.  So then the temptation is to grab it for ourselves.  But there are two fallacies with this thinking. First, the Lord always has our best interests in mind because He loves us.  He will not deprive us just for the sake of depriving us.  If we find ourselves without something we desperately want, it would be wise to stop pursuing it and seek Him instead.  Secondly, we can’t fool Him.  It’s not like He doesn’t know our hearts or that we can somehow secretly pursue something without His knowledge.  

What we can learn from this story of Solomon is that, first and foremost, pursue God’s will for our lives.  Seek first that which is unselfish, pure, and righteous.  Then know that He will fulfill the desires of your heart, or, as often happens, changes your heart to want different things for yourself.  

Today, what is it that you want so desperately?  Then surrender it to the Lord and ask for His will to be done and pursue Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  If you do, what will likely happen is you will end up getting what you want, or end up realizing that isn’t what you needed after all.  

© Jim Musser 2017

No comments: