How to Always Get What You Want

This was the theme of my husband's sermon yesterday-

How to Always Get What You Want

Red flags went up. At the same time, curiosity was piqued. This isn't possible, but wouldn't it be wonderful? To always get what you want? 

Knowing my husband as I do, I knew exactly where he was going with this. He preached from Matthew 25:14-30- The Parable of the Talents. As he walked through the story of the Master who entrusted great wealth to his three servants to manage while he was gone on a long journey, I was struck by several things.

1. The Master wasn't testing his servants- he was trusting them to handle his affairs.

~ I hadn't really thought about it in this way before. I always assumed that it was more of a test- the Master wanted to see how his servants would handle the money that was given to them. But Dave reminded us that they didn't have cell phones or email back then. When a Master went on a long journey, he was incapable of handling his business affairs. If his business was going to thrive in the time that he was gone, he had to trust his servants to handle things in the same way that he would.

2. For the first two servants, the Master's priorities were their priorities.

~These two servants did exactly what the Master had hoped for! They worked hard. They handled the money that they had been given in the same way that their Master would have. They were concerned with doing well for their Master and they allowed his priorities to be their priorities.

3.  For a servant whose greatest desire is to serve their Master, they got exactly what they wanted.

~Ah, the best words that a servant could hope to hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:21). In that moment, these hard working, faithful servants get exactly what they want. They worked hard to serve and to please their master and all of their work was not in vain. "You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things", the Master continues and then he says, "Come and share in your Master's happiness".

4.  The third servant tries to justify his behavior- to give a reason for why he dug a hole and buried his treasure in the ground.

~And this is where it gets good! When you look at the 3rd servant's behavior, it is apparent that he wanted to do whatever he wanted. He didn't want to work hard. He just wanted to live off of the Master's generosity. So he buries his "talents" and then does whatever he wants. When the Master returns, this servant reaps his reward. He is called a "wicked and lazy servant" (vs. 26) and his Master "rewards" him with these words- "throw that worthless servant outside" (vs. 30). 

This was the point in the sermon where my husband/pastor shared

a verse that I have been contemplating (again!)

for the past week!

Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

~Psalm 37:4

Are you wondering How to Always Get What You Want? The answer is right there.

The problem is that we so often skip to the latter part of the verse. We love to think that God will give us the desires of our hearts. But like the wicked and lazy servant, we are selfish and just pursue what we want. The truth is that what we want- whether it be a relationship, money, health, security, children, more time, a book deal,  insert your deepest desire here!- might not be what God has for us. When we don't get what we want, we can become angry and bitter. And often times, we think that once we get what we want, well THEN we will serve Jesus!

But... God tells us something completely different then the things this world tells us we should want. He tells us to delight in Him! This isn't an I'll-love-God-to-see-what-I-can-get-out-of-it response. Delighting in the Lord means that we are seeking to know Him. It means that we are allowing Him to transform us and to make us like Him. It means that we are pursuing Him- working hard to please Him, because when we love Him, this is our only possible response.

Delighting in the Lord means that His priorities become our priorities! When we delight in Him, he changes our desires. And our deepest desire will be to bring glory to Him!

When this is our desire, God promises to give us what we want!

Are you holding onto your own wants? Do you ever find yourself trying to manipulate God to get what you want? Have you surrendered your own desires and are you seeking to delight in the Lord?

I love to picture my God, my Master, holding out his hand to me and saying "well done, my good and faithful servant" and "come and share in my happiness"!

Oh, Father God!
May your priorities become my priorities. May my deepest desire be to bring you glory. Help me to delight in you and to pursue your will for my life. May I use all of the gifts that you have given to me- my time, my talents, my treasures- for your glory!
Amen.