We can do and try and work at all that we want to, but in the end life is not going to give us what we want all the time. For Christians, we know that God will not always give us what we want all the time, but He gives us what we need all the time. Trusting in God for this is the difficult part. I'm sure you've heard that a 1000 times.
Nevertheless, the reality in our lives is that our desires can feel so pressing. They can be deeply set in our hearts, but does that mean they are good for us? This is especially hard to trust God for when the desire looks almost impeccably "good" for us and all the people around us; something like desiring good health. It can appear that wanting to be free from a disease or handicap is good, but it depends on what we define as the greatest good, the ultimate good. Is it better to be energetically healthy yet not know God? Or is it better to be healed of a handicap and have pride swell up in us that we look down on others? I'm not saying this is your situation, but I'm offering that this could be some situations. The healthy person may become sick as an almost automatic reaction to get on their knees and feel their need for God's help. The handicap may be apt to do well in many things and yet feel humbled by their limitations and excel gratefully rather than autonomously. God is always after our ultimate good, and along the way that may appear to us as His sabotaging our apparent (lesser) goods. It is key to also realize that what we think is good could be what is overtaking our praise and worship of God. For example, I might have a desire to have a better relationship with a friend, I may want to be closer to them and less judgmental of them, but the desire must stem from wanting to do so in love. If the desire stems from anything else like my wanting to appear good to them, be included in their circle, or my wanting to not have to be stressed out or annoyed by them, then the desire is from a selfish motive. This is not good, therefore God may use certain difficulties and circumstances to shape me up for the ultimate good. The ultimate good is to somehow desire a better relationship because I love them, and not for any other reason less than that. And this, I might argue, begins again from a deep understanding of God's love for me.
When God places me in a difficult situation I pray that I have the courage to see what He is teaching. It's easy to want things to just disappear or somehow go the way we want them to without thinking about God's will, but God our Father thankfully does not acquiesce to our incessant shortsightedness.
May the wellspring of love that exudes in our lives and the sleep we are given by God each night be a reminder that it is God who is at work in us. Trust that He knows what He's doing since He's the only One who can do anything at all! If we work we work by His blessing, if we build we build with His blueprint, and if we plan, we plan with His will to be done.
This week, I pray that I (and you) be shown this very truth. What's God doing in your life right now with your circumstances, relationships, and your character?
God loves you. God loves me so much. He is wooing me to Himself everyday.
Rest in His love, trust in His methods, and never live a day in vain.
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food —
yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves."
-Psalms 127:1-2
Jmegrey
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