Today I was texting my friend Taylor simply asking what the better idea would be for me, to study or lay in my bed after school. I'm indecisive, and I am always asking my friends, "should I go here or there?'' "Should I choose this one or another?'' I asked Taylor, ''Should I just go home and lay in my bed?" She replies with, ''If you want." My response actually blew me away. I texted back with "That's what I want, but I don't know if it's what I need. After I read what I had just sent it utterly shocked me. I realized there was so much truth behind that one text message that I didn't intend to have any meaning in. It made me realize, sometimes, and most times, we know what we want, but it's not necessarily what we need. Yes, I want to go home and lay in bed scrolling through my social medias, but the next day when my test is thrown on my desk in front of me I'll be lost. I don't want to go home and pull out my algebra notes or read about physics, but to prepare for the test that is what I need. In the long run, getting through the time put into studying will benefit me more, and I can still make time later to snuggle up in my bed and scroll on my phone. In the same way, God shows us that what we want, isn't always what we need. Sometimes he takes away that thing our heart wants so bad, and hands us something we need, but it's going to prepare our hearts. We just have to trust that whatever God has, is so much better than anything else you can possibly imagine. He is so much greater than that one thing we want so desperately. Like studying our schoolwork , what God desires for us and what we need will benefit us much later on. We'll be more prepared for that test the next day, or the next trial that comes our way.
If what you want is not according to His will, think of how you can change that desire into something according to His will. Ask yourself, ''What do I need,'' not ''What do I want?" "What does God desire for my life?" 1 John 1:14- 15 says, " This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him.'' This scripture is so eye opening. If the things we want are not for His will, we need new desires. Well how do I do that? Reality is, you can't, but God can. The first step is asking God to come in and change your heart. God will do a full heart transformation in you. You will see your life change from the inside out. I once heard in a sermon, ''God doesn't want to just go in your heart and rearrange furniture. He wants to blow the whole house up and make it brand new.'' That's what God wants, and can do in your life, if you simply open the door. It's that simple. As God changes our hearts, what we want will start to change as well. What we want will begin to look more according to His will, not ours. One of my favorite verses is John 3:30 ''He must become greater and greater; I must become less and less.'' When God comes in and changes our hearts, we become more selfless. We will want God's name to become more known, not our own, and that's exactly what we need. What we need is to become disciples for Christ. Making his name known is our purpose. What we need, is to fulfill our purpose, and that is to love and make Christ's love known.
As you go through your day, ask yourself, ''Am I doing what I want, or am I doing what I need,'' then take time to pray about that.
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