YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

‘This will be good for me’ is what you’re thinking…’it feels like the right situation and the right time, because this is what I’ve always wanted’. ‘He/she has to be the one, they’re everything thing I could have hoped for’…or ‘I didn’t know somebody like this could fall for someone like me’. ‘This is the dream job, what I’ve always wanted, it must be meant to be’. These are some of the thoughts that go through are heads when we finally grab hold of something we want. Our confidence and our outlook on life is left in shambles when we don’t get it…or we do get it and we lose it. But why? If there is a God, why wouldn’t he want us to be happy, to achieve our dreams, or to be with the person that we want most? What if the truth to all this was that the thing we want must could be the thing that makes us come undone and causes us to walk away from what we stand for?

Before we look at the ultimate example of being denied what we think is good, let’s first take into account one important concept:

Getting what you want now, may not be what you want later

When I speak to collegiate undergrads about selecting a Greek organization to join, I always attempt to deter them from the organizations offering parties, alcohol and girls primarily because they are simply pandering to their current desires. Most of us, if we’re living life the correct way…continue to grow and become wiser as we age. Many of us have outgrown the toys of our youth or the partying of our young adulthood. So if a young man decides to join a lifelong organization that can only offer him what he desires at 18, what will it have to offer him at 22, when his focus turns away from the present and towards the future? And what about his post college life when he has a family?

‘Don’t be sold on something today that you may not want tomorrow’ is the phrase I’ve repeated so many times. It applies to all of us in every phase of life. The issue for many of us is we simply don’t know what tomorrow holds and are therefore incapable of truly assessing what is best for us. Many of us have heard the phrase ‘God will close one door to open another’, but it doesn’t register in our minds when we don’t get what we want. Our desires and outlook may change over time, but getting what we feel we want most (at the time) could lead us to become a slave to our desires and stagnate our personal development.

The reality is that although we have freedom of choice, God has a plan for our lives if we choose to accept it. But without the ability to see the future, we are simply unable to see the complete picture of God’s plan (1 Corinthians 13:12). For many of us, what we want we perceive as ‘good’, but that’s only from our point of view. The problem with our point of view is that it’s heavily influenced by a society that is not in line with God. In James it states that friendship with the ‘world’ is the same as being an enemy of God (James 4:4). Even worse than society influencing what we believe is best for us, the Prince of this world who is Satan will pander to our basic needs and our ego (sometimes with misleading religious arguments) just like he did to Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11).

So for those of us who pray for what we want under the pretense that God will answer our prayers, the truth is you will receive what you ask for if it’s in line with God’s plan for you and it is best for you (James 4:2-3). God is not a genie who simply grants commands. Have you ever noticed in almost every movie with a genie the person who receives their hearts desires always has their wishes take a turn for the worst?

“…the truth is you will receive what you ask for if it’s in line with God’s plan for you and it is best for you (James 4:2-3). God is not a genie who simply grants commands...”

The Ultimate Example: Adam and Eve and the two trees of Eden.

Did you know that there were 2 trees in the Garden of Eden? One tree possessed the knowledge of good and evil, this is the tree that Adam and Even ate from. But there was a 2nd tree, the tree of life. Its purpose was exactly what it sounds like…it gave eternal life. Genesis 3:22: “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil (after eating from one tree). He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat (the second tree), and live forever.

Now for starters, Adam is equally as guilty as Eve for what transpired, Eve may have been deceived by the Serpent. But they were both instructed to not eat from the tree and Adam knowingly disobeyed. With that being said, their disobedience opened the door for sin in this world and although they were forgiven, they were still cast from the Garden of Eden. Now you might be thinking ‘if they were forgiven, why were they removed from paradise? Doesn’t God want what’s best for them?’

Genesis 3:22, shows that God wanted to keep them from the Tree of Life. Now the Tree of Life seems like a good thing, it is theorized as being the agent responsible for sustaining their life. If Adam and Eve had eaten from that tree after allowing sin to enter the world and separating themselves from God, they would be doomed forever. Instead they were cast out, forced to work for their food, experience pain, trials and tribulations. All this would bring them closer to God as a result. Remaining in Eden would cause them to live forever in their sins and rob them of the opportunity for redemption. So while immortality and paradise seemed like it was good, it would have ultimately trapped them forever.

“Remaining in Eden would cause them to live forever in their sins and rob them of the opportunity for redemption.”

In the end, we don’t always get what we want because it would remove our reliance upon God (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) and lead us astray. If we believe we have accomplished everything by ourselves we’ll find out at the end of time on earth that we’re unable to resurrect and save ourselves. Not only will our faith be weak, but how can it be genuine if we only love God when he’s doing good things for us (Job 2:10).