What Do You Want?

In Numbers 11, I read where the Israelites were unhappy with the manna that God was providing each day. They started to complain and ask Moses to beg God to give them something else. Their rejection of manna as their sustenance was a sign of their disobedience to God and their dissatisfaction with His plan.

I see where the same thing happens to us. We pray and ask God for solutions to dilemmas in our life and then we are unhappy with the answers that He provides. We beg Him to make our job situation better and when that job ends unexpectedly we start to doubt His plan. We find ourselves praying earnestly for healing from cancer and when He chooses to end that person's life here on earth we are filled with disappointment and anger. We plead with God to change people's hearts and find that He wants to change us first.

God's answer to our prayers isn't necessarily going to be what we expect. In fact, from personal experience I can tell you that it most often is not. The question that we have to ask ourselves then is whether we are praying for God to work in our lives through His incredible grace and omniscience or whether we just want Him to give us what we want. Our answer to that question reveals whether we are engaging in a maturing, faithful relationship with a God who provides or if we are seeking a magic genie who will grant us wishes to satisfy short-sighted visions of need.