I Want It

I Want It
April 1, 2013
1 Chronicles 28:9   ". . . acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever . . . "

I want it.  This is the easiest thing for us to say when it comes to our likes.  If we like something we will declare our want for it.  But what about all the things we don't like?  Can we say we want that too?  We never want things we don't like; it is counter intuitive.  If we don't like to eat carrots, we will seldom say we want to eat them.  If you are a chocolate lover, you might want chocolate instead of those carrots.   Carrots, though, are a far healthier snack than a chocolate cupcake.  Life is full of things that we like and full of things that we dislike.  If we are smart, we will still want the things that we dislike IF we know they are good for us.  This is true in choosing healthy snack foods and true in choosing the will of the Heavenly Father.

The Lord has a will and a plan for your life, and it might be full of things you don't like or want.  If you don't like the things in your life, you may be inclined to say that you don't want them.  I would submit to you to consider that you DO want them, even if you don't like them.  They may be part of the Father's will for your life.  I'm not talking about the results of your foolish choices.  I'm talking about the things presented in your life beyond your control that you just can't shake loose.  The prime example of someone who walked this path is Jesus going to the cross.  He didn't necessarily like it, but He willingly submitted to it because He wanted the will of the Father.  There are many examples in the Bible of famous heroes who had to endure things they didn't like or necessarily want.  Joseph didn't like that he had to go to Egypt as a slave but it was part of the Lord's design.  Moses didn't like that he had to shepherd sheep for forty years in the desert, but it was part of the Lord's design.  Paul didn't like that he had to be imprisoned or shipwrecked, but it was all part of the Lord's design.

All of these heroes, in hindsight, could see the will of the Father at work and if they had to do it all over again would probably choose to "want" those things they previously didn't like.  They all realized their lives had been the product of the Lord's design and were glad to be used for His glory.  Though they didn't think they wanted the situation at the time, they later realized it was necessary and healthy for the Lord's master plan.  We have an opportunity to learn from them knowing our lives, by design, are working toward the will of the Lord.  We can chose to not like it, but maybe we should chose to want it instead, maybe even growing to like it.

It is time, as a mature believer in the truth, to submit to the fact that there are many things in your life you don't like, but must embrace if they are the will of the Father.  You probably have said that you want the will of the Father but when it comes down to it, if it is something you don't like, can you still say you want it?  For those of us who work hard to control our lives, this is extremely difficult.  So practice with me now. Say the words, "I want it," while thinking of that hard-to-shake-situation beyond your control.  While you may not mean it at this moment, if you continue to practice this, you might actually be able to bring your will into alignment with the will of the Father.  Then when you say, "I want it," it will be liberating instead of feeling like shackles.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Genesis 37, Genesis 50:20, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 26:39, Luke 22:42, John 6:38, John 21:18, Romans 8:28, 1 Peter 5:20