ANYWAY, I was kind of puzzled on what to write for my blog today, but I think I finally decided on what to write on. I'm going through a one year devotional and it brought up some interesting ideas that I would love to share my heart on.
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To begin, I want to look at Genesis 24:3-4: "Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac." (NLT)
Kind of cryptic why I chose this verse, huh? Well, let me give you a little back story. This is Abraham talking to Eliezer telling him where to find a wife for Isaac. He's telling Eliezer, very specifically, what kind of woman he wants Isaac to marry. Focus in on the word 'wants'.
Something I've been struggling with lately is the clash between 'want' and 'selfishness'. For some reason I haven't been able to justify what I want without feeling like I'm selfish. I'm very in-tune with what other people want, it's just the way God made me, and I love it! So, here's where we delve into God's word. I guarantee you, if you're wondering about something, dive into His word and you'll find an answer of some kind.
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Also a real quick disclaimer: As I'm writing this blog, I'm learning about this very topic. Moments before, I was struggling, so in a way, I'm using this blog as a tool to delve into this myself.
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Last Sunday during church the pastor preached on 1 Timothy 2:1: " I urge you then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone." (NIV) The first thing he says in this letter is that God want's to know and want's you to pray about what you want! Send your requests to God and He will take care of them.
I realized that we can't control other people. Shocker, I know. Instead of spending your energy on what you want, focus on other people. What I've learned in serving people is that if you put all your effort into making yourself happy and making sure you're satisfied, it just doesn't work. I think it's necessary to pour into other people's lives as well. Now, I'm not saying you should completely deny yourself in the pursuit of others happiness (something I've probably done more times than I should have), but that your sole focus shouldn't be on yourself and what you want.
God knows what's going on in your life, He knows what you want. But what kind of father would He be if He just gave us everything we ever wanted? How would you view a humanly father if all He did was give his kid everything he asked for? Adults know so much more about life than children and they want what's best for them. The same is true of God. He knows what we want and how badly we want it, but sometimes He doesn't give it to us because He can see the bigger picture. He's got the experience to know when we don't.
Going back to the selfishness vs. wanting thing, I think an important element can be added. Time. You know how every year you have a birthday? Most people in America will receive some kinds of gifts and money on that special day. What makes it special is that it only happens once a year. Think about it. What if you got something you've just been dying to have every single day for the rest of your life. It would be awesome for the first couple weeks, but after a while, I honestly think I'd get bored of it. I wouldn't appreciate it in any way. It's just another daily routine. That's selfishness. You simply get what you want and then you move on. It's completely self serving.
But here's where I think the distinction can be made. I want something, but am I willing to wait for it? Am I fine with waiting until it's the right time, or when I really need it? Can I justify the fact that if I wait long enough, will I realize that I might not even want it in the future? All these questions are coming to my head. You see when you're willing to wait for something, willing to give up the instant satisfaction you want, I think this points to a pure and simple want almost void of selfishness.
Life can be hard at times. There are days where certain things just set you off. There are times when you feel like you need something so bad, you're willing to do anything just to get it as soon as possible. It's hard to wait, trust me I know. But it's sort of like following God. If it's easy, is it really worth doing? It's like my first post. Life sucks, but it's worth it. The hard things in life are often the most useful.
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Sorry this post is a little more sporadic and haphazard, I didn't have as much time as I wanted to to write about this, but I hope I got my point across.
Keep being awesome! See you next week.
--------------------
Also a real quick disclaimer: As I'm writing this blog, I'm learning about this very topic. Moments before, I was struggling, so in a way, I'm using this blog as a tool to delve into this myself.
--------------------
Last Sunday during church the pastor preached on 1 Timothy 2:1: " I urge you then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone." (NIV) The first thing he says in this letter is that God want's to know and want's you to pray about what you want! Send your requests to God and He will take care of them.
I realized that we can't control other people. Shocker, I know. Instead of spending your energy on what you want, focus on other people. What I've learned in serving people is that if you put all your effort into making yourself happy and making sure you're satisfied, it just doesn't work. I think it's necessary to pour into other people's lives as well. Now, I'm not saying you should completely deny yourself in the pursuit of others happiness (something I've probably done more times than I should have), but that your sole focus shouldn't be on yourself and what you want.
God knows what's going on in your life, He knows what you want. But what kind of father would He be if He just gave us everything we ever wanted? How would you view a humanly father if all He did was give his kid everything he asked for? Adults know so much more about life than children and they want what's best for them. The same is true of God. He knows what we want and how badly we want it, but sometimes He doesn't give it to us because He can see the bigger picture. He's got the experience to know when we don't.
Going back to the selfishness vs. wanting thing, I think an important element can be added. Time. You know how every year you have a birthday? Most people in America will receive some kinds of gifts and money on that special day. What makes it special is that it only happens once a year. Think about it. What if you got something you've just been dying to have every single day for the rest of your life. It would be awesome for the first couple weeks, but after a while, I honestly think I'd get bored of it. I wouldn't appreciate it in any way. It's just another daily routine. That's selfishness. You simply get what you want and then you move on. It's completely self serving.
But here's where I think the distinction can be made. I want something, but am I willing to wait for it? Am I fine with waiting until it's the right time, or when I really need it? Can I justify the fact that if I wait long enough, will I realize that I might not even want it in the future? All these questions are coming to my head. You see when you're willing to wait for something, willing to give up the instant satisfaction you want, I think this points to a pure and simple want almost void of selfishness.
Life can be hard at times. There are days where certain things just set you off. There are times when you feel like you need something so bad, you're willing to do anything just to get it as soon as possible. It's hard to wait, trust me I know. But it's sort of like following God. If it's easy, is it really worth doing? It's like my first post. Life sucks, but it's worth it. The hard things in life are often the most useful.
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Sorry this post is a little more sporadic and haphazard, I didn't have as much time as I wanted to to write about this, but I hope I got my point across.
Keep being awesome! See you next week.
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