Wanting Two Things

Last week's post examined the Israelites, who on multiple occasions got what they wanted even though they didn't always realize what they were asking for. Wanting things is completely natural. In fact, I believe it is actually impossible never to want anything.  Last week's post focused in part on the fact that desires can be expressed in an improper way or out of a rebellious heart.

This week I would like to look at situations in which someone wants two things at the same time. Very often believers have a physical (personal) desire at the same time that they also have a spiritual (God-ward) desire. Generally speaking, the physical desires are short-term, while the spiritual desires are long-sighted.

What are some examples of physical desires? A person could want to watch a football game, eat ice cream, or go on vacation. He might desire to be rich or to be successful in his career. He may want to be married or have children. These desires range from the fairly trivial to the relatively serious. Some would change merely the course of an afternoon while others might prompt an entire life change.

How about spiritual desires? A believer may wish to please God or grow in godliness. He may want to learn contentment or submission. He might desire to be used in God's service or to see souls saved. He could want victory over a besetting temptation. He may long for a heart that is completely right with God. He may want to have a positive testimony to those around him or for his life to count for God. These desires are basically foundations for life. Many of them permeate every aspect of life as well as the entire breadth of life. They will not be completely achieved until the believer is glorified in heaven.

Physical and spiritual desires do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, God often blesses His children with physical gifts, especially when they are striving for the right spiritual desires. Job and Abraham are biblical examples. In Psalm 17, David describes how he had achieved his desire of living uprightly before God. "You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress" (v. 3). As a result, he reasonably expected some things from God. "Wondrously show your lovingkindness, . . . Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me . . . from my deadly enemies who surround me" (vs. 7-9). God granted David's desires of displayed goodness, special favor, and physical protection, while also helping David to achieve his goal of living correctly before God.

As long as a desire is good and legitimate, it is certainly possible that God will grant the desire. Psalm 37:4 instructs, "Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart." Some believers have tried to exercise this truth as if it represents a blank check from God. They think that if they are Christians, God will give them anything they want. This is a misunderstanding of the verse.

The believer is first instructed to delight himself in God. This term refers to a luxurious splendor in the presence of God; the position is so delightful that it feels like soft and delicate surroundings that are welcoming and satisfying. If a believer relates to God in this way, he will certainly have the kinds of desires that God would love to grant.

Some have also interpreted this verse as meaning that when a believer so delights in God, God Himself will initiate or shape the person's desires so that they are exactly what God also wants. In other words, God will give (or place) right desires into the heart, after which He will then be able to bestow the answers. Because the word desire means a request or petition, I lean toward the interpretation in the previous paragraph. Either way, the application is basically the same. A man who delights in God has a heart that is inclined to want what God wants, and God delights to meet desires that are pleasing to Him.

It is important to realize that this harmony is not a given. Too often the Christian's unfulfilled desires (or desires met but accompanied by unpleasant consequences) are a result of physical desires that are in opposition to spiritual desires. A believer who watches football to the point of rarely attending church is not fulfilling his desire to please God. Someone who eats a half gallon of ice cream daily is not honoring God, because he is not properly caring for the body God has entrusted to him. A man who spends thousands of dollars on an extravagant vacation, leaving him without the resources to provide for his family, is not having a positive impact in his realm of influence. A believer who wants to be successful as a bartender is not achieving his spiritual goal of being a good testimony. A Christian who marries a non-Christian does not reach his goal of pleasing God. When the physical and spiritual desires are mutually exclusive, the believer must abandon the physical desire in deference to the greater spiritual desire.

What about when the desires could profitably co-exist, but God does not give the physical desire (or hasn't yet given it)? The believer must then rank his desires. The longing for a vacation may be good, but the longing to obediently provide for the family is more important. The desire to be successful in a career is good, but the desire to maintain a godly testimony is more critical. Wanting to be married may seem to be the strongest desire imaginable, but it must be secondary to the desire to please God, serve Him, and grow in Him.

Believers can legitimately live without football, ice cream, vacations, wealth, successful careers, marriage, or children; if they want their lives to be what God wants, however, they cannot live without striving to please Him, without obeying His commands, and without being moldable and receptive to His work. While it may be difficult to never see the fulfillment of certain physical desires, it would be tragic to receive the physical requests at the expense of falling short of the spiritual desires. The spiritual desires must be the most important.

"God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God." I Peter 5:5-6 (NASB)