I want. I need.
Often, it’s easy to fall into the belief that we need a certain thing to happen in order to be satisfied. Even though we lived the majority of our lives without it, it clings to us more than prominently now. Our wants are not always His will. Asking God for something doesn’t mean that is His will for your life. The wanting is the expectation that the Lord does not satisfy enough and the real thing you need is what you really don’t have. A deeper relationship with Him.
The Lord desires us as Christians to set our hearts on Him. He causes us to wait on the things we want, to build our reliability on Him. It’s only in those moments that we realize He is all we need. The Lord instructs His people through a Psalm of David:
Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
This encourages us to know that we don’t have to want anything. The Lord Himself satisfies our souls when He is placed in the center on the throne of our hearts. He leads us further by saying through a later Psalm:
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
If you strongly desire to pursue something that is in and of itself righteous and brings glory to God, it is often Him placing that desire within you for you to carry it through. When you delight yourself in the Lord, He impresses on your heart what your next steps are in order for His will to come to pass.
What happens when His will is not what you desire? What if it leads to pain, even suffering?
The disciples of God had excruciating lives to bring glory to His name, some even being martyred for His sake, then transcended to paradise where their treasure is stored. Moses suffered in the wilderness for forty years leading a people out of Egypt who complained and worshipped other idols in his desire to lead them to the promised land. David ran for his life before he became king. Joshua was rejected by his brothers and sold into slavery before he ruled the land of Egypt; only second in command to Pharaoh. He went from prisoner to prince.
As for the story of Joseph, he endured suffering through slavery and imprisonment which caused him distress, although the Lord restored all that was lost in His perfect timing. Joseph trusted and gave glory to the Lord, therefore the Lord was faithful.
Genesis 41:50-52
During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”
Through this, we know the mysteries of God and the way He teaches humankind. Sometimes the providence of God is not what you expect but He still provides in the way He wills. God was faithful and gave Joseph, a holy man, food in a time of famine, wisdom, and a family after his own brothers forsook him. Facing suffering is the beginning of becoming a mature soul.
After so many years, I finally understood the true meaning of looking to Jesus when the waves are roaring and He is telling me to just come closer. The wind and the waves demonstrate a world of chaos grasping to get your attention. Jesus is the still, peaceful One guiding you home. He is saying just look to Me child. I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. My ways are just, My will is right. I will not lead you down a path of dishonesty. I do not desire that you fall. I love you child and want only for you to follow Me. I will lift you up in due time.
When you keep your eyes on Jesus and not on your circumstances, God will give you His perfect peace.
He actually commands us to, “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
One of the oldest tricks in the book the devil uses, is to take what hurts us most and uses that against us. He has been studying human beings for thousands of years. He knows that one of the best ways to get to people is to use their weaknesses against them. The old serpent tries to lure Christians into trusting in their own power within their circumstances, rather than putting their trust in God. When I began focusing on just God and not my circumstances, the Lord brought to my attention that nobody can hurt me. I am protected. My heart, my soul, and my mind are all protected and sanctified through Christ.
God never said this life would be easy. Instead, He declared the exact opposite.
Through different seasons, the Lord may take us through defining seasons in our lives that we may not understand when walking through them. It is not His will to hurt us, although it is His will to teach us through our circumstances.
This could mean God asking us to believe in Him for something with seemingly no hopeful outcome. Praying for the salvation of a love one’s soul, can seem entirely daunting, but He will work through you to speak to the person you’re praying for. I am personally in this season in my life. As I’m sure I will be for the rest of my life until every person I know fully experiences God’s sovereign Truth. I believe during this season God is saying to move while you’re waiting. Don’t get stuck. Let go of what you know God can save. He will move in that person’s life once you stop trying to control the outcome. God is already willing that none should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). So keep praying in intercession on behalf of their soul. Plead the blood of Jesus over them. Fast for deliverance in that person’s life. As for the rest, leave it up to God.
God created all of us, He desires that we walk humbly in surrender of His will for our lives. He wrote the story of our lives. He is the author of these pages. He will figure it out.
Just don’t think it will happen on your own timing. Remember, it’s not about you, or me. It’s about the plan that God has ordained in that person’s life. He might be adding depth to their testimony so they will know what God has saved them from. That is how God demonstrates His power.
To wait is to trust.
Another notable figure who faithfully endured when suffering struck though he was a righteous man, was Job. When Job had everything stripped from him; his family, his livestock, even his health, he questioned God. Job challenged God’s justice because to his finite brain, he did not understand how such a good and loving God could strip away all he ever knew. He assumed that because he was a righteous man, that he would not be subject to endure suffering. God responded to Job by probing him with a series of questions regarding the amount of care He puts into His creation. He told Job that he is not qualified to make such accusations toward the God of the universe because he did not know the complexities of our universe nor of the infinite knowledge of God in His grand scope of it all. The Lord used this experience to reshape the knowledge that Job had about the providence of God and turned it into experience. This personalized the relationship between God and Job.
“God’s goal in your life is to move you from a mental knowledge of Him to an experiential one” – Priscilla Shirer
You might be asking God to heal you. Expect that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). Genuinely expect the healing. To ask of something to be done but to not have the faith to believe God will actually accomplish that request which you ask, is double-mindedness. Those who are double-minded should expect to receive nothing from God because their hearts are not set on Him (James 1:6-8). So ask away and trust that He is more than able to fulfill your desperate need. He does care. He cares about you more than the lilies and the sparrows according to His good Word (Matthew 6:25-29). He loves you more.
He could be asking us to wait on something that is particularly painful to wait on. As for waiting, I now understand that the Lord works best when we are one hundred percent reliant on Him. In this we know that time creates depth. He could tell us to intentionally do something we do not want to do for His Greater Good. He makes us willing. Not by our own power, but through the power of the Holy Spirit that only He gives. He desires for us to be like Him.
Waiting on God is a journey intertwined with intricate lessons imbedded into fields of wonder.
No matter the prayer you are waiting for to be answered by God, He is with you through every step. Whether it be the providence of your finances, your health, or finding a job – He hears you. Oftentimes His answers are not what we expect, but quite what we need. It’s not necessarily the change of pace in your life that God wants your focus to be on, He is the God who transforms you along the way to the promised land.
“I’ve learned this truth: the process of waiting for a message from Him is often just as important as the message itself. As I wait, my faith grows. The waiting prepares me to receive the message that’s coming and to respond in obedience. In some cases, in fact, the intimacy I develop with my Father while I’m waiting is the message.” – Priscilla Shirer
Uncomfortable change brings growth.
Don’t run from the change that is willing to transform your soul into the one Christ has made you to be. The Lord is working on a lesson plan for your life. Once you learn the lesson He desires to teach, that is God finishing up His lesson plan for that season. He longs to teach you.
How cool is that? The God of the universe wants to lead you through life.
Do not live in defeat, but walk in victory. He desires that His ways become our ways. We are unable to do it on our own – to trust fully in Him. Through scripture we know that not one seeks God, not even one (Romans 3:11), that the human heart is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9-10), but also that we can not do anything apart from Christ (John 15:5), and that we can do all things through Christ who give us strength (Philippians 4:13). It is only by His power that we can be transformed into the likeness of Him.
Remember this: the Jews in Jesus’ day expected the coming messiah to establish an Earthly kingdom and lead a revolt against Rome.
What they did not expect was exactly what they didn’t know they needed; a savior who destroyed the constraints of sin and death by His sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus’ Kingdom was not of this world. Only Jesus could save the lost from perishing. Those who He came for did not expect the King to be crucified by their oppressors. Although it was the providence of God that we all needed.
Hebrews 12:2-3
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Let’s pray
Lord, we need you. I pray on behalf of your sheep; the utter and complete transformation we need to truly experience you in your fullness. We need to be like you Lord. Help us to stay near to you to learn your ways and understand who you truly are. God help us to understand the design of your providence. That just because we want something right now, that does not mean it will come that quickly. The lesson is oftentimes more important than the destination. As we continue to wait, grow our faith. Let our waiting become the message. May we faithfully incline our ear to your guiding voice, so we may know the gentle leading of our shepherd in the midst of expecting your true providence in our lives. Thank you Lord for the perfect peace you bring. Thank you that we can trust you, Father. Amen.
I love revitalizing music so for every post I’m gonna start adding a theme song relative to the message, for you to listen to for encouragement this week. This post’s theme song will be:
Be Still – Live by Red Rocks Worship
You are loved. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I pray it blesses you.
Have a blessed week. 😀
Copyright © 2023 Sierra Aaron. All Rights Reserved.
The Light of Heaven 