Why is it that we always want MORE? It's come to my attention lately that most of us aren't satisfied with what we've got and we focus on what we want more and more. Single ladies can't wait to find someone to date, then they WANT to be married, then they WANT to have kids, then they WANT this and that and as soon as one want becomes a reality, we want something else.
WHY!?
Psalm 23 plainly says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..."
Someone once explained to me why a shepherd carries a staff (the one with the hook) and a rod (the one without a hook). When other animals would pose a threat to the sheep, the rod was used to defend them and when the sheep wandered off, the staff was to pull them back in. Our heavenly father is our shepherd. ("The Lord is my shepherd...") He guides me, directs me, steers me towards heaven. When I wander, He uses His staff to bring me back. And when the enemy is after me, He uses His rod to defend me. So if God's word, his promises to us, his children, says that our shepherd will take care of us and that we shall not want, then why in the world do we desire what we don't [yet] have?
We learn in kindergarten the difference between wants and needs. Some examples: I want a house -vs- I need a roof over my head // I want a brand new car -vs- I need reliable transportation to work // I want this new shirt -vs- I need to do laundry instead of buying new clothes. I [embarrassingly enough] have a pinterest board named *need this in my life*. The board has everything from custom cornhole boards, to shoes, to house decor, to chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed oreos ... and, to be honest, I do not have a single one of those things. Why do I not have any of the things on my *need this* board? Because I don't really NEED it. I want the new shoes, I have what I need -- too many shoes! I want the grey paint and picture frame arrangements, I have what I need -- a comfy roof over my head with pictures and coffee decor galore. I want the chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed oreos and the pumpkin white hot chocolate, but I have more than I need -- a fridge and pantry with plenty. Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus". Meaning our God, our shepherd, our father will take care of every need that he sees as a true need. Wanting more could even be seen as not trusting our provider.
At church this past weekend, the pastor mentioned something that has been hard for me to stop thinking about. Many have the belief that they don't understand why God would allow us to go through turmoil. Well the first book in the Bible tells us that God handed over his creation to man Gen 1:28-30 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground -- everything that that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
When you keep reading, you realize that after God handed off "the whole earth" to man, man passed it off as well. Genesis 3 shows how man handed off his reigns to the serpent. So to answer the question of why God let's bad things happen or why he allows storms to be in our lives, the answer is: He doesn't. He gave us the opportunity to take care of his beautiful creation and we decided to WANT something that was not meant for us and give up our rights to a sneaky life-sucking serpent. So God sent His son to live in the world and die a worldly death followed by a heavenly resurrection only so that we may be forgiven for our inevitable failures. But He didn't stop there! He promises that if we remain close to Him and lean on His understanding and trust Him, that He will carry us through any storm the devil tries to throw at us. And when we allow the storm to flood our lives, we are already forgiven and given another chance.
A friend and I were talking about this earlier and she said to me, "I don't believe anything is coincidence anymore. It is either of the Lord or of the Devil and I need to strengthen my defense to be able to differentiate between the two." If you have not seen War Room yet, GO SEE IT. And then go see it again. And again and again and again. And if you have the opportunity to read the book on Fervent Prayer, do it. The movie and book both mention that we are in battle against our evil enemy who wants nothing more than to keep us away from our God. We should go to war against our enemy in prayer, in fervent prayer.
Our shepherd promised to take care of our needs even when we allow wants to cause storms in our lives. The only thing we should be WANTING is to be closer to God ... and when you think about it, that's really what we NEED.
Continue Reading...
WHY!?
Psalm 23 plainly says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..."
Someone once explained to me why a shepherd carries a staff (the one with the hook) and a rod (the one without a hook). When other animals would pose a threat to the sheep, the rod was used to defend them and when the sheep wandered off, the staff was to pull them back in. Our heavenly father is our shepherd. ("The Lord is my shepherd...") He guides me, directs me, steers me towards heaven. When I wander, He uses His staff to bring me back. And when the enemy is after me, He uses His rod to defend me. So if God's word, his promises to us, his children, says that our shepherd will take care of us and that we shall not want, then why in the world do we desire what we don't [yet] have?
We learn in kindergarten the difference between wants and needs. Some examples: I want a house -vs- I need a roof over my head // I want a brand new car -vs- I need reliable transportation to work // I want this new shirt -vs- I need to do laundry instead of buying new clothes. I [embarrassingly enough] have a pinterest board named *need this in my life*. The board has everything from custom cornhole boards, to shoes, to house decor, to chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed oreos ... and, to be honest, I do not have a single one of those things. Why do I not have any of the things on my *need this* board? Because I don't really NEED it. I want the new shoes, I have what I need -- too many shoes! I want the grey paint and picture frame arrangements, I have what I need -- a comfy roof over my head with pictures and coffee decor galore. I want the chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed oreos and the pumpkin white hot chocolate, but I have more than I need -- a fridge and pantry with plenty. Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus". Meaning our God, our shepherd, our father will take care of every need that he sees as a true need. Wanting more could even be seen as not trusting our provider.
At church this past weekend, the pastor mentioned something that has been hard for me to stop thinking about. Many have the belief that they don't understand why God would allow us to go through turmoil. Well the first book in the Bible tells us that God handed over his creation to man Gen 1:28-30 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground -- everything that that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
When you keep reading, you realize that after God handed off "the whole earth" to man, man passed it off as well. Genesis 3 shows how man handed off his reigns to the serpent. So to answer the question of why God let's bad things happen or why he allows storms to be in our lives, the answer is: He doesn't. He gave us the opportunity to take care of his beautiful creation and we decided to WANT something that was not meant for us and give up our rights to a sneaky life-sucking serpent. So God sent His son to live in the world and die a worldly death followed by a heavenly resurrection only so that we may be forgiven for our inevitable failures. But He didn't stop there! He promises that if we remain close to Him and lean on His understanding and trust Him, that He will carry us through any storm the devil tries to throw at us. And when we allow the storm to flood our lives, we are already forgiven and given another chance.
A friend and I were talking about this earlier and she said to me, "I don't believe anything is coincidence anymore. It is either of the Lord or of the Devil and I need to strengthen my defense to be able to differentiate between the two." If you have not seen War Room yet, GO SEE IT. And then go see it again. And again and again and again. And if you have the opportunity to read the book on Fervent Prayer, do it. The movie and book both mention that we are in battle against our evil enemy who wants nothing more than to keep us away from our God. We should go to war against our enemy in prayer, in fervent prayer.
Our shepherd promised to take care of our needs even when we allow wants to cause storms in our lives. The only thing we should be WANTING is to be closer to God ... and when you think about it, that's really what we NEED.
