A couple days ago my wonderful girlfriend took one of the young ladies who is in the high school ministry I intern for (my “adopted” little sister) out for a little “girl time.” They chose to paint pottery at As You Wish (perfect girly thing to do). They spent about an hour and a half choosing and painting their piece of pottery with “great” success (let’s just say my girlfriend’s didn’t turn out the way she wanted). When I picked my girlfriend up and asked how it went she responded,
“Great fun. Great time. Poor choice of thing to do to get to know her and talk. We were so focused on our painting that we couldn’t really talk. If we focused on our conversation, we would lose focus on our painting and it would start to suck.”
I chuckled a little as we discussed that it was still a great first step in engaging with the young lady and that nothing but good would come from it. She kind of disagreed with me because she felt that the relationship being strengthened was not anywhere close to what it could have been. This began to make my brain think about something. In Psalm 73:25-26 it says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (ESV). I would encourage you all to dive into this Psalm (as a whole) to get the context of the author’s declaration. It makes these verses THAT much more impacting.
Here is what gripped my heart: how often we act towards God in the same way my girlfriend and the young lady acted towards their relationship “building.” We try to give God everything; our time, our hearts, our money, our family, our relationships, our trust, etc. We all know God calls us to love Him with “all your heart, all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27a ESV). Ultimately, we “strive” to give God our everything so that our relationship with Him will grow at the maximum capacity it can. Yet, don’t we often times (and I say “we” because this was my conviction) fall into the mindset and heart attitude that we can still give God our attention and feel like our relationship is growing, but at the end of the day we realize that we’ve only given God a percentage of our hearts and that our relationship with Him has suffered because of it?
The author of Psalm 73, Asaph (not David), despite what was going on around him, chose to say that there is NOBODY that he wants and desires more than God. Nothing in this world…everything… relationships, riches, success, good looks, friends, family…is worth the distraction and despair of pulling him away from God. He declares that there is nothing on earth that he wants more than God. Asaph even realizes that there will be times when just his own personal desires and self-destruction will pull him away (“heart and flesh may fail”) but God will always be enough and worthy to captivate his attention 100%.
This is all well and good. I’ve even found myself saying, “Great Asaph…good realization you super-Christian dude! Way to have that mindset…but you have no idea what that means for me. That means I have to give up finding satisfaction in some pretty awesome things! You don’t even know!”
I think Asaph would turn to me and respond, “What is it worth? Have you not realized the end of those things? They ultimately will leave you empty. ‘…then I discerned their end’ (verse 17). When has God failed you? Never. When have those things you put your satisfaction in failed you? Always. What is it worth?”
At the end of the day, I have realized that if I am finding satisfaction in anything except God, I am cheating God and cheating myself from the greatest and most amazing satisfaction and life ever. I am cheating God’s goodness and mercy. I am cheating God’s blessings and plan for my life. I don’t want to be like the girls at As You Wish who walk away at the end of the day and regret it saying, “I wish I would have given my complete attention and satisfaction towards building that relationship.”
Who do I desire or what do I desire on earth besides God? If there is something, then we have to ask, “What is it worth?” Is it worth cheating God? I would submit that it is NEVER worth it!
“Great fun. Great time. Poor choice of thing to do to get to know her and talk. We were so focused on our painting that we couldn’t really talk. If we focused on our conversation, we would lose focus on our painting and it would start to suck.”
I chuckled a little as we discussed that it was still a great first step in engaging with the young lady and that nothing but good would come from it. She kind of disagreed with me because she felt that the relationship being strengthened was not anywhere close to what it could have been. This began to make my brain think about something. In Psalm 73:25-26 it says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (ESV). I would encourage you all to dive into this Psalm (as a whole) to get the context of the author’s declaration. It makes these verses THAT much more impacting.
Here is what gripped my heart: how often we act towards God in the same way my girlfriend and the young lady acted towards their relationship “building.” We try to give God everything; our time, our hearts, our money, our family, our relationships, our trust, etc. We all know God calls us to love Him with “all your heart, all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27a ESV). Ultimately, we “strive” to give God our everything so that our relationship with Him will grow at the maximum capacity it can. Yet, don’t we often times (and I say “we” because this was my conviction) fall into the mindset and heart attitude that we can still give God our attention and feel like our relationship is growing, but at the end of the day we realize that we’ve only given God a percentage of our hearts and that our relationship with Him has suffered because of it?
The author of Psalm 73, Asaph (not David), despite what was going on around him, chose to say that there is NOBODY that he wants and desires more than God. Nothing in this world…everything… relationships, riches, success, good looks, friends, family…is worth the distraction and despair of pulling him away from God. He declares that there is nothing on earth that he wants more than God. Asaph even realizes that there will be times when just his own personal desires and self-destruction will pull him away (“heart and flesh may fail”) but God will always be enough and worthy to captivate his attention 100%.
This is all well and good. I’ve even found myself saying, “Great Asaph…good realization you super-Christian dude! Way to have that mindset…but you have no idea what that means for me. That means I have to give up finding satisfaction in some pretty awesome things! You don’t even know!”
I think Asaph would turn to me and respond, “What is it worth? Have you not realized the end of those things? They ultimately will leave you empty. ‘…then I discerned their end’ (verse 17). When has God failed you? Never. When have those things you put your satisfaction in failed you? Always. What is it worth?”
At the end of the day, I have realized that if I am finding satisfaction in anything except God, I am cheating God and cheating myself from the greatest and most amazing satisfaction and life ever. I am cheating God’s goodness and mercy. I am cheating God’s blessings and plan for my life. I don’t want to be like the girls at As You Wish who walk away at the end of the day and regret it saying, “I wish I would have given my complete attention and satisfaction towards building that relationship.”
Who do I desire or what do I desire on earth besides God? If there is something, then we have to ask, “What is it worth?” Is it worth cheating God? I would submit that it is NEVER worth it!
Good thoughts Ryan. Keep up the writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr. Correia. I appreciate the encouragement
ReplyDelete