Wants or Wills?

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) ¹¹  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

When I was a boy my parents always had a Sears catalog in the house. On many a cold winter day I would prop my feet up on the warm radiator in our kitchen, lift the heavy catalog into my lap, and longingly peruse the toy pages. This was long before Sears became an endangered species. Sears was probably the top, or one of the top retailers in the country at that time. That catalog was always at least two inches thick, and though it contained pages and pages of stuff I wasn’t interested in, there were lots devoted to kids’ stuff. And it was the toys and sports equipment that I came back to again and again. I remember my dad passing by me one day and casually asking a question, “Looking at the want book?” He probably never gave it another thought, but (obviously) that question stayed with me. I never thought of it being called that before.

The “want book”. That’s something that is pretty much obsolete today. Now it would be the “want sites” – websites with all the things money can buy and people might want. But it doesn’t matter what format it takes, the principle is the same: we want things. I want things. We are drawn to desire things. I think it’s pretty normal, and I don’t believe it is necessarily “wrong” to want something. The problem is whether or not that wanted thing is in any way in conflict with God’s purpose or plan for me (and for my money). For example, in my life right now I have a want for a particular house (with a specific street address) in South Carolina. I do not believe that it is wrong to want a house. I have never owned one because a parsonage of some sort has always been supplied to me in the churches where I have served. Over the years I have been saving and I hope to be able to buy a home someday. But it is not as simple as just wanting this house. For one thing, it is not for sale. For another thing, if it did go on the market, it might end up being with a price beyond what I could pay or should pay (or try to pay). It’s a modest home by MDI standards. But that’s not the point. While wanting something is not necessarily wrong, we all know it can become wrong if it is not tempered by, or surrendered to, the will of God. For example, if something bad had to happen to the current occupants of the house (who are unknown to me), I would NOT want the house. Or if purchasing the house was a step of bad judgment (risky or foolish in some way), I would not want the want to overtake the wisdom that would serve me better.

So what do I do? What do you or I do anytime we have a want of any kind? I pray. I surrender my want – whatever it may be - to God’s will. And as I walk with Christ I seek to do this with every single want that comes before my eyes or pops into my head. And the world surrounds me with a barrage of wants every day. Many of these are simply not attractive to me. But I am attracted to others. Of those, some are unrealistic, so I can fairly easily pass them by. But if I’m faced with something reachable, then I know that it has the power to take over my imagination and occupy my thought life for long stretches of time. How much easier and better it is just to pray, “Lord, I surrender this want to your will. May your will be done. And let me be happy in your will.” That is a prayer that God always responds to, because it puts Him first and trusts Him. Yet I don’t necessarily pray it easily. And I may need to convince myself that my heart is really with the Lord’s will before I will convince God. But I think He rejoices – and I know He is glorified – when my wants are surrendered to Him.

So I am learning to surrender my “wants” to His “wills” – to “unwant” what I want and to want His will. Because that is where the joy is: ultimate, deep, satisfying, restful joy. May I – and you – learn this more and more, until it becomes the natural bent of our hearts. Thank You, Lord.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV) ⁶  But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Proverbs 15:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶  Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil. ¹⁷  Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Exodus 20:17 (NIV)  "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV) ³¹  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  

PRAYER:  Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. May it be so in my life, and in the lives of my children and grandchildren and all whom they love. And may you get much glory from me in and through what you provide, and what you withhold. And may nothing I have or don’t have rob me of joy in you, my Savior, Redeemer, and friend. AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott