What do you want most in life?

August 4, 2023

Maria 1 Kings 3, Desire, God's will, John 15, Matthew 6, Matthew 7, Psalm 2, Psalm 37, The Lord's Prayer, Words , , 2 Comments

… the LORD appeared to Solomon …. in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you………I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…” 1 Kings 3:5, 12 NIV

Do you have your 15-30 second elevator speech ready?

Aspiring, focused visionaries, whether actors or entrepreneurs, know what they want and prepare themselves to ask without hesitation should the ‘right person’ come along. When they step into an elevator and recognize someone who might facilitate a connection or provide a contact they are ready to make the ask and give their why without shame or stumbling around.

King Solomon similarly prepared himself.  He knew what he lacked, which skill or quality without which he could not rule the people entrusted to him.

This is easy to imagine. For as the newly enthroned king, can’t you just picture the depth and weight of his overwhelm, following in the footsteps of his dad, King David?

We know that God loved Solomon, for he chose THIS son, NOT David’s oldest, to govern his own people.  The Almighty illustrates his tender care by coming to the new ruler in the middle of a night’s anxious tossing and turning.  When the Father asks Solomon what he wants or needs, the young king is ready with his ask. You know that if he is dreaming this encounter, his desire has penetrated the deeps of his heart.  This is no casual afterthought. 

From this conversational dream, I note the power of our words, our pleas for help, underscored by God’s response to Solomon, who requested understanding to govern.  God’s quick response literally is, ‘I do or I bring about or I make happen according to your WORDS.’  What we speak, reflects our core beliefs and our words matter more than we imagine.

What David’s son requested; God granted. Solomon’s ‘spoken’ words in his dream sprang from his heart’s desires.

God teaches us to learn, know, desire, guard and declare what his Word proclaims. As my friend, Mayra, says: ‘our words augment or build up our faith’.  Of course, any unbelieving word we speak, an articulated belief which don’t fit reality (aka: God’s truth), quite naturally diminishes and damage our confidence in God.

Cycling back to my initial question, just what is it that you desire?  God both evaluates and encourages our desires.

Psalm 37:4 Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart’s desire. (NAB)

Are you and I ready to tell God what we want?  I am!  Pain has convinced me of that.  I have asked God to heal my body and I am proclaiming to myself and to others that he already has. It is what I most desire right now.

Maybe some of you feel uneasy with this lavish but serious fact about God.  Your counter argument might go, “We can’t just ask God for a Maserati because that is what we desire!” Well, why not?

I believe our Father trusts all of his children who delight in, who LOVE more than anything just to be with him, to listen to him, to hang out with him.  Isn’t that what the text says?  Those who LOVE his presence and company above all else in the world are invited, are encouraged to take him up on his offer.

Jesus taught likewise.  John records the Savior’s promise to the disciples in John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (NAB)

‘Remain in Jesus. Delight in God more than in anything or anyone.’ I don’t see any contradiction between loving God with my whole heart so that I want to be near him throughout the day and night AND still desiring other, lesser things.

Taking God simply at this word, I’ve asked and I’m daily asking Jesus for healing. And that’s just the top of my list of desires.

But what if my desires are not in God’s will? I would counsel, get some practice praying for what God’s word DOES tell us we are to ask. ‘Pray like this:  …..Holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Matthew 6:9  Ask of me and I will give….Psalm 2:8. ‘Ask, and you shall receive.  Matthew 7:7.’   

Dallas Willard addresses our fear of being TOO out there with our longings by sharing an illustration of why God trusts us, giving us liberty to ask what we want.

“When our children were small, they were often completely in my will as they played in the back garden, though I had not told them to do the particular things they were doing. They would still have been within my will even if they were playing in their rooms or having a snack in the kitchen.” (page 27, Hearing God through the Year)

Where were his kids at this time? They were abiding in their father’s house, with him. He was within an ear’s range.  They could do what they wanted; all the while attentive to Dad’s call. But I bet my last bite of avocado that if their father had called to them to come share a board game or to play hide-and-seek or fight imaginary dragons they would have come running.  Time with Dad was what they most delighted in.

So, I ask you, what do you want?  Give me an idea of at least ONE thing.

Do you struggle to have joy?

August 12, 2021

Maria Hebrews 12, Nehemiah 8, Psalm 2 , , , 2 Comments

The joy of the LORD is your strength, Nehemiah 8:10 NIV

I’m reading a book by Simon Sinek that my son Wes recommended, Start with the Why. One of his teaching points is that if employees sense their company respects them, including them in the company’s vision, the ‘why’, then profitable outcomes will follow naturally. Getting employee buy in and creating a work environment where they feel safe and valued increases retention and allows for innovation.

Would that had been my experience in my last school where I taught French! As much as this private school publicized their values and vision for education, in reality they optimized keeping clients happy, i.e., parents. The administration feared losing paying families.  They talked a good talk of being a progressive school which used ‘best practices’, but in reality, teachers were expendable and always at fault in any conflict with parents. The head and his staff cared most about keeping the bottom line in the black.

Just as building employee loyalty and confidence starts with decision makers optimizing a happy and safe work environment, so too does our God know just what will make us feel most safe, loved and cared for.

Look again at how God describes his people’s strength and safety.  He announces it’s connected to HIS joy.  Whose joy?  I used to struggle with this verse because I never feel consistently joyful about God.  I often wondered, ‘Is the strength of my faith dependent on the amount of joy I can gin up?’  Since my feelings go up and down, that thought offered no comfort.

But then I wondered, maybe the Levites weren’t talking about the people’s joy, but the Lord’s joy.  If that’s the case, wouldn’t that change everything?

So, is the Lord joyful? Is he a happy God?  What would you say?

I thought of two places in the Bible that present a cheerful God, one from each testament.

  • Psalm 2:4 NLT reports:  But, the one who rules in heaven laughs.
  • Jesus went to the cross, for the joy awaiting him. Hebrews 12:2 NLT

Closely connected to laughing and joy is pleasure.  At Jesus’ baptism, God audibly announces that he is ‘well pleased’ with his son. The Father repeats this at the transfiguration. 

I conclude that our triune God is a happy God.  So, how does that lead to our strength?  Think about parents.  What provides security to children? Happy and contented parents, for kids can then conclude, ‘If Mom and Dad don’t seem worried, then I guess we’ll be okay,’ despite difficulties. That parental quality might not be the only quality of a healthy home, but I’ll argue that it’s essential.   

To the degree that I can trust that God is not worried about life on planet earth in 2021, then I will feel safe.  Strength to face difficulties comes from knowing that we will always be secure, since God is in charge. Our heavenly Father is not rocked by world events. He can laugh and be carefree because he controls all events. As PCA pastor Scotty Smith repeats, ‘God’s sovereignty is my sanity.’

Finally, let’s connect God’s manifest joy and happiness to his peace.  Isn’t it logical that the one who controls all events and people, directing them according to his plan, is a God who is at peace?  He’s not stressed.  We all know that joy and peace flee when worry dominates.  Maybe this is why Paul’s exhortation to hand over all cares is a path to enjoying God’s supernatural peace, that state of tranquility that can only be explained by God being in control of everything.

It’s not my self-generated peace or joy that will steady me in this life.  Peace and joy from above flow downhill, whether from the executive headquarters of a company or parents in a family. As Christians our confidence in life comes from knowing that our God is enjoying himself and is cheerfully happy.  His joy is our strength.