When I reflect on the lesson that I my teacher taught today, it reminded me of something that is wrong with Christianity. My teacher talked about how Abraham was promised numerous offspring, and he never lived to see it. We begin to see that as Abraham ages, and he begins to become impatient with God and decides to take matters into his own hands. The result was Ishmael, who would be at odds and with all his brothers (Gen 16:12). Abraham eventually received Isaac, and would die not seeing his descendents being numerous.
As a whole, I find that the message above greatly contradicts what we are taught in church today. We have been given an idea that if we have enough faith, that we will receive what we want. Western culture tends to teach us that if we want something, that we should not have to wait for it. Instead of asking God for wisdom to see and have peace with his will, we are taught ask and you shall receive. We also never ask whether we need something or not, we just want it.
With that in mind, I wish to ask you, “What if God gave us everything that we wanted? What would the world look like?” If you ask me, I don’t even want to know! I really don’t think that we would have much of an appreciation for anything in life. Everything would be handed to us on a platter and we would have no respect for anything outside of our own desires.
When I look at my own life, I have benefited from being in a middle class family. We were never rich, but I was never in want of anything. My parents taught me to work for what I have, and that’s what I did. One of my biggest regrets is that I did not listen to God when I was in undergrad. I felt called to the ministry, but I did not feel confident because of my medical problems.
Much like Abraham, I got impatient and did not like what I was hearing from God and I moved in my own direction. Ultimately, I paid the price. The good thing is that I am still using what I learned in college and it gave me a boost for graduate school.
For those of you that know what I have been through medically, you know that I should not even be in grad school. I should not even be in a profession like the one I am about to enter. But it comes to show that God gives you what you need for the moment when you seek his will. It is difficult to see in most cases and often times seems crazy, but that is a discussion for another time!
In regards to Moses, he eventually received Isaac, it took a long time but God gave it to him. One thing that I have always tried to do is be patient for the Isaacs in my life. Whether it is a job, a ministry, a big break on something, I try to wait for God’s perfect timing. I also strive to be content with what God gives me for the moment.
What about those things that we never see? There are things in life that we do not understand. Much like Abraham never seeing his numerous descendents, we have do not always see the fruit of our lives. Me, I never understood why God allowed me to have my conditions. It bothered me for a while, because many of my friends coasted through and I had to work extra hard.
But then two things dawned on me. The first was that I appreciated life much more because I earned what I had. I was patient and trusted God, and it shows. I also did not throw a fit because I did not get what I wanted that moment, I just waited and worked hard.
The second thing that dawned on me is that life is not about me. None of it. My life is to be used to bless others and to help others. Because of what I have been through, I can reach people that no one else can. Instead of saying whoa is me and complaining about my issues, I can encourage others and give life to them because I have become an example of overcoming a bad situation. Often times, we never know who we touch, but we do.
I say this to bring home the idea that we need to continue to seek understanding as to why things happen in our life, and see the global picture rather than the self-benefits of every situation. I do not say that as a man who has it under control, because I just blew it this summer and I think I lost a good friend because of it. I am not perfect! But I am hoping others wish to try and create a paradigm shift with me in which we are patient and appreciate what we have in life instead of always seeking the next thing.
Now that I asked the question what would life look like if we got everything we wanted, what would life look like if we were more patient for God’s leading? I think it would be a better world.
