WhatDoesGodWant

A simple question, what does God want? What does he want from us, what are His desires for me? The more time that I have spent on this “simple question”, the more complicated it seemed. What does the Creator of the Universe want with me? Theologians, philosophers, great men of knowledge could probably spend days and even weeks speaking on the subject. Countless books have been written, page after page, chapter after chapter; but I believe I can sum it up in just a few short paragraphs. (Aren’t I the confident one?!)

Every time I come to a question of the character of God, I quickly become overwhelmed. How do I attempt to understand God, to understand the character of God? It has been helpful to me to imagine God in a context that I can understand. The words of Jesus have been most useful when he attempted to teach us a format or content of prayer. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus tried to give us an understanding of prayer, one of the most impactful parts of that lesson for me, came in verse 9 when he referred to God as “Our Father”.

Having children myself, I can just begin to get an understanding of God our Father. God our Father, the perfect Father, the PERFECT Father, the one who created us, the one who looks after us, the one who waits for us….Father.

I have read many books from a variety of authors. All have provided great insight on the character of God. I have also found that there are countless books on how to find the plan that God has for us, to live up to our Christian potential, to be better followers of Christ. I don’t want to discredit, minimalize or make light of any of these books or their authors. I have found every one of them to be very helpful and enlightening and have been of benefit to me in my own Christian walk and I recommend reading them. I just think that sometimes, we can get so enthusiastic about getting people on the right path; we forget to acknowledge the foundation of the road or reason for the journey.

Those who don’t know Christ, see the road (following Christ) as a chore, a list of do’s and don’ts. Non-believers see Christianity as one major guilt trip or God as a supernatural control freak that brings nothing but shame and limitations. New Christians get so caught up in their desire to travel “the path”, it becomes an endless stream of service and performance; an attempt to get closer to God through work, through acts, by earning and achieving; caught up in an unfulfilled search for God’s plan; not God’s heart.

So what does God want then? The answer is simply a relationship.

God wants a relationship with you. Sure He wants you to succeed, He has a plan for your life, He has wants and desires for you, He wants you to have success. But whether you follow His plan, have success, prosper or fail, your perfect Father wants a relationship with you. As a father myself, I have desires for my children. But know that my greatest desire, no matter whether they succeed or fail, achieve or make mistakes; my desire is to have a relationship with my children and through that relationship, I will love them regardless of what they do or what they become.

How much more would the perfect Father in Heaven desire a relationship with you? Search out God’s plan for your life; but do it always in the context of desiring a deeper relationship with your Father. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalms 37:4) Your Father will be overjoyed in your service, in your achievements, in your desire to follow Him; but first He seeks your heart, he seeks a relationship.

Serve Him, work for Him; but never forget to spend time with Him. Don’t let a day go by without time in prayer and in His Word. For only through spending time with Him does your relationship grow; don’t, and your relationship WILL perish. God’s laws are absolute. Don’t spend time with your wife, your marriage will die. Don’t spend time with your Father and that relationship too will die.

I pray that your true heart’s desire is to have a deeper relationship with God your Father and that as your relationship grows; so does your understanding of your purpose. May the grace, peace and love of Jesus Christ bring you to a closer relationship with God, your perfect Father.

Go now…your Father is calling!