wants

The Will of God

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“Outside the will of God, there’s nothing I want. Inside the will of God, there’s nothing I fear” (A. W. Tozer).

That’s where I want to be, but I’m not there yet. If I’m honest, I must confess that I probably have desires that are outside of the will of God. I also understand that anything outside of the will of God that seems good to me probably won’t be.

I love the fact that God in His plan factored in dummies like me. I don’t mean that I lack intelligence or common sense, but sometimes I can be thick-headed when it comes to the ways of God and what He wants for me. I think all of us are that way to one degree or another.

The problem is that I think too highly of what I want and not highly enough of what God wants. If I truly knew what God wants and saw what God sees, I’d want what God wants. I’d love what God loves. I’d ask for what God wills to give me.

So in one sense praying for God’s will is dangerous and in one sense it’s not. It will definitely take you out of your comfort zone and bring you to places and people that you would not have chosen for yourself. It’s also the safest place you can be outside of heaven.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased” (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses).

So Close

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Every year, I dutifully fill in my brackets for the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament held around this time every year. Usually, I fill in quite a few — some serious, some off-the-wall, some in-between. Usually by this point, all my brackets are toast, and I’m hoping for some Cinderella team to pull off the improbable win.

This year, there were no Cinderella teams. No double-digit seeds that got to the Final Four. No underdogs tugging at everyone’s heartstrings. It was the usual top seeds that made it to the end. That made it a little less exciting for the games, but a little more helpful for the brackets.

One bracket was shaping up nicely. I had correctly picked all 8 of the Elite Eight teams, all 4 of the Final Four teams, and was one down, one to go for the Championship round. If it had all gone to plan, this would have been my best bracket ever.

Unfortunately, it did not go to plan. One of the teams I picked to advance, Duke, was actually leading up until the final few minutes. The other team, Houston, made an improbable comeback and won the game, dashing my bracket once and for all.

That’s life. At least a lot of life is like that. You almost get that one thing you really want, but not quite. You get the marriage or the house or the car, and it’s every bit of what you dreamed it would be — almost. It’s like we have desires that nothing in this world can quite satisfy.

C. S. Lewis said that if we have those desires that can’t be gratified by anything in this world, it means we were made for another world. Anything this side of heaven is only a type and a shadow of the real thing in heaven. Our ultimate longing and desire can only be found in God.

Of course, some of the things I really thought I wanted or needed to have I didn’t get because God knew better. Some of the kindest words God ever says to me are Him telling me no to a request that if I got what I asked for would destroy me. At least it would not be good for me. Also, I can’t really ask God to give me anything outside of Himself that’s as good as God, because that thing or person doesn’t exist. I think C. S. Lewis said that, too.

Anyway, I’m already looking forward to filling out multiple brackets in 2026 and hoping for that one miracle bracket. My golden ticket, if you will. I suppose I can dream, can’t I?

Seek God First

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“We know God too little. In our prayers, we are concerned less with His Presence, than the thing on which our heart is set.  We think mostly of ourselves, our need, and our weakness, our desire and prayer. But we forget that in every prayer God must be First, must be ALL” (Andrew Murray).

I forget that sometimes. My prayer life can easily become a laundry list of wants or a kind of cosmic letter to Santa about what I want for Christmas. I can get so wrapped up in my requests that I forget that God is so much more than what He can give me.

I forget that God can’t give me anything apart from Himself (with much thanks to C. S. Lewis for that one). Besides, what I really desire can’t be found outside of God anyway. What I really in my deepest heart of hearts need is God.

If I in my prayer life seek God first, strive after God’s Kingdom (which is no more or less than God’s active rule and reign more than a location), then God said He would give me the rest. In pursuing God whole-heartedly and solely, I end up finding everything I need without even looking for it.

I read something that shook me a bit. If I got everything I ever prayed for, would the whole world be better off or would just my little world be better? Am I praying for my own wants and need or am I seeking God’s blessings for those around the world who have yet to hear the gospel? Am I praying for those in my sphere of influence who don’t yet know Jesus?

I think if I seek God that way, I won’t care about a lot of what I pray for now. I also believe that my own needs will be met and God will give me what I would have asked for had I known what He knows and seen what He sees.

I Shall Not Want

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“‘I SHALL NOT WANT,’ the psalm says. Is that true? There are lots of things we go on wanting, go on lacking, whether we believe in God or not. They are not just material things like a new roof or a better paying job, but things like good health, things like happiness for our children, things like being understood and appreciated, like relief from pain, like some measure of inner peace not just for ourselves but for the people we love and for whom we pray. Believers and unbelievers alike we go on wanting plenty our whole lives through. We long for what never seems to come. We pray for what never seems to be clearly given. But when the psalm says ‘I shall not want,’ maybe it is speaking the utter truth anyhow. Maybe it means that if we keep our eyes open, if we keep our hearts and lives open, we will at least never be in want of the one thing we want more than anything else. Maybe it means that whatever else is withheld, the shepherd never withholds himself, and he is what we want more than anything else” (Frederick Buechner, The Clown in the Belfry).

Did that ever hit the nail on the head for me. If I have the Shepherd, I have everything I need. I think what God might be speaking to me tonight is that the verse doesn’t say, “I might occasionally be in want” or “I’m currently in want but not for long.”

It says, “I shall not want,” meaning that there will never be a time when God’s supply is insufficient for me, when God Himself is not enough. I think what I need more than a job, more than a steady paycheck, more than anything in the world is Jesus.

So many in this world have just about everything money and fame can buy but without Jesus, they have nothing but a castle of sand. If I have Jesus and nothing else, I have everything that could ever satisfy that no amount of money could buy or no amount of power could procure. I have enough.

I Need, I Need, I Need. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.

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Today at church, the pastor spoke from Matthew 6:25-34 about not worrying because God will supply your need. I’ve heard that before many, many times, but for some reason it hit me in a fresh new way.

Many times, we as Americans get our needs and wants confused. I know I do.

For instance, one of my needs is reliable transportation to get me to and from work. My want is a red Mini-Cooper,preferably one that has a British flag emblem on the roof and/or on the side-view mirrors. I currently drive a red’ 97 Jeep Cherokee with nearly 275,000 miles on it that still looks and runs great.

Red_Mini_Cooper

I have an iPad 3. I love it. Still, sometimes I find myself coveting one of the new iPad Airs, especially the ones with 128 GB. But I’m content with what I have. I’d also have to be seriously delusional to call either one of those a need.

There’s a house in downtown Franklin that I’d love to live in. It’s like a storybook cottage and it’s right in the middle of one of my favorite areas of Middle Tennessee. I do have a roof over my head, so I think I’m covered when it comes to my need in that area.

I’m not saying wants are wrong. I am saying sometimes we all need a little bit of perspective about what our needs are and what our wants are. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but if you have more than one set of clothes, a roof over your head, access to clean water, more than one meal a day, and transportation, you are wealthy. So many around the world don’t have these things.

Oh, I’d still like one of those MacBook Pro laptops. Or even a MacBook Air. I’d settle for one of those, too. But I’m not going to say either of those are needs. Still, if someone wants to donate one to me out of the goodness of their heart, I wouldn’t complain too much.

293802-apple-macbook-pro-13-inch-mid-2012

All that to say that I know God will take care of my needs. Sometimes, He has to remind me of what those needs REALLY are, but He’s never failed to take care of me and my true needs. The same God who looks after those lilies in the field and those sparrows will look after me.

 

 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

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“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known” (Garrison Keillor).

I’m generally not the best judge of what I really want. How do I know? Because of all the times I got what I thought I wanted and thought would satisfy me and almost instantly was out looking again for what I really wanted.

I’m thankful (as I know you probably are) that I didn’t get most of what I asked God for. First and foremost, because God’s not a cosmic vending machine bound to give me whatever I asked for. Also, I’ve changed and my wants have changed and– hopefully– matured since then.

There’s the old saying that what looks good to you isn’t usually what’s good for you. You have to be disciplined and mature enough to know the difference. And I have not been very good at either of those. Improving, yes. Very good, no.

I think if I ever focused on what I have, I’d be a lot better off. My checking account would be, too.

What do I have?

All that really matters.

I have family, friends, air to breathe, health, freedom, a good mind, and today. Most of all, I have a God who knows what I need better than I do. He knows what I’m seeking after when I can’t even put a name to it.

As the old Rolling Stones song says, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.” There’s some good theology in those lyrics.

There’s not a neat and tidy theological wrap-up to all this. I just realize that if I’m not getting what I want, sometimes it’s because I need better “wants.” By the way, that sentence made perfect sense in my head.

May you always find that even though God doesn’t always give you what you want, he does always give you what you need.

Reminders That Life Really Is Good

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I woke up today to snow on the ground. To those living above the Mason-Dixon line, that may not be a big deal, but it is for this guy living way down in Tennessee. It may not have lasted, but it was pretty.

I may not have everything I want in life, but I do have everything I need. I am still so very blessed.

One of my friends is getting re-baptized at her church. I plan on being there to celebrate and rejoice in this brave step of obedience on her part. I love seeing how God has been working in the lives of family and friends lately. It’s a good reminder for me that those prayers of mine really are getting past the ceiling. James writes that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. I do know that they work.

I’ve learned over time that real maturity is seeing God bless someone else and being happy. Even if that person gets something you’ve wanted but not received, you can still choose to be happy for him or her. I’ve been envious and bitter in the past about such people, but I’m learning to rejoice for them. I think there’s hope for me yet.

I keep thinking that one day this little blog of mine will explode and start raking in thousands of readers. Maybe. Maybe not. But I’m thankful for those who take the time to read my ramblings when there are so many other things competing for their time and attention.

God is good, all the time. Not just when I feel that he is good. Not when I feel he’s doing right by me. All the time. That’s 24/7.

Just so you know, if you ask me to pray for you about something, I do. If you ask me to pray for a loved one, I will. Keep reminding me that life is good and that God is good, because I forget early and often. I’ll try to do the same for you. Deal?