When is the last time you actually stopped to meditate upon the significance of putting God’s will first in your life? Have you stopped to think—recently—about why it is so important to desire the will of God above all other desires?
The obvious answer is because this is what God requires of us. But looking further, we see that it is here that God blesses us! Obedience to God—putting His will above our own—is what opens our lives up to wonder divine blessings!
We are familiar with the relevant biblical passages:
Matt. 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
Oscar Wilde (not exactly a paragon of Christian virtue) once said: “There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.”
This is a bleak worldview to be sure.
With Mr. Wilde’s point of view, no one could ever be happy. Get what you have always dreamed of, only to discover soon that such is not as you had imagined…it is not even close to what had been built up in the mind. On the other hand, never obtain what it is that you have longed for, and one is doomed to always be asking, “What if?” or “Why not?”
However, this “tragedy” is only truly the case if one does not desire God.
Sincerely putting the will of God first changes everything.
A life that honestly says:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
Is also the life that can honestly say:
“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:12-13)
Oscar Wilde was wrong. The tragedy is missing out on the life offered by God the Father through Jesus the Son. If it is a life with God that we want, it is a life with God that we shall have for He makes Himself readily available (Matt. 7:7-11; Acts 17:27; Rev. 21:3-4; etc.)
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps. 37:4)
