LISA UPDIKE | GUEST

I want, I want, I want! Usually when we hear those words we think of a selfish toddler, or…teenager…or even ourselves. But sometimes those are the very words that bring delight to the Lord. And dear sister, I have a feeling you have cried out just like I have with these strong desires:

I want to be more like Jesus
I want to love Jesus first and best
I want to trust in the Lord with all my heart
I want to delight in the Lord
I want to love His law
I want to rejoice in all circumstances
I want…to rest in His goodness, to abide in the Lord, to be content in all things, to be anxious for nothing, to run the race marked out for me.

One day, I want to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Sanctified Wants

These “I want’s” bring joy to our Savior revealing that His Holy Spirit is already working in us. Only those who have been justified by grace through faith have these radically unselfish “I want’s.” By nature, we are corrupt in every part of our being. Without the saving work of the Holy Spirit, we want nothing to do with God. When we are unregenerate, we long for the life of ease, success, popularity, wealth. Without His work, we care only for our passions, and nothing for the wellbeing of others.

2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We may not have arrived yet, but the very fact that our longings have been transformed should encourage our hearts. Psalm 37:4 reminds us, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This isn’t saying that we get what we want when we delight in the Lord; instead, it is saying He gives us right things to desire. Wanting to be more Christ-like is evidence that He is at work. Recognizing that we fall short means we have new eyes with which to examine ourselves. This is sanctification: being made more and more holy by the work of the Holy Spirit Himself.

Shaped by Hardship

But here, my friend, is where we need to prepare our hearts. We cry out to be made obedient, righteous, wise, humble…holy—all in line with the will of our heavenly Father—but the means by which the Lord most often answers us in these things is a hard road. Hebrews 5:8 tells us that, “Although he was a son, he [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered.” How can we expect this process of sanctification to be anything less than challenging? Yes, we are new creations, but our sin nature clings tightly, claws dug in. Our Savior, hating sin, comes in ready to eradicate it from our lives, and it can hurt! Learning to love Jesus best sometimes means having our other loves stripped away. Learning to be content might mean having the things that bring us worldly comfort removed. Yikes! But don’t forget, Jesus told us that we would have tribulation in this world, but to take heart because He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) That includes our sin nature. It’s defeated! Still, just like the story from your childhood days, you can’t go under, can’t go over, you gotta go through. There are no sanctification short cuts. To become more like Jesus, we need to endure spiritual surgery. But my dear sister, I am not saying this to frighten you or overwhelm you, but rather, to give you hope. The pain and suffering you endure are not just random difficulties that have blown in on a stormy day; they are gifts from a good and sovereign God.

When Our Wants Come True

One of the passages I return to time and again is found in Romans 5:3-5. “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Isn’t that like a glass of cool water? Drink up! Nothing that we experience in this life is random, nor is it wasted. God uses it all to produce good things in us. He is preparing us for eternity with Him where we will glorify and enjoy Him forever. Our suffering leads to hope—not a hope that is like the wish made when blowing out candles on a birthday cake or when we hope that the traffic is smooth on the ride to work tomorrow—but one that is certain. We know it is so because we have the Holy Spirit at work in our very hearts.

So go ahead, tell Jesus all those amazing “I want’s,” but as you do so, cling to Him and remember that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him (Heb. 12:2). You are that joy! He loves you as His child. You belong to Him. And because you are His, Hebrews tells us, “It is for discipline that you have to endure, God is treating you as sons” (12:7). And just think of that day when your greatest “I want” is answered—when He receives you into your forever home, with a welcoming, “well done.”

Photo by Felipe Giacometti on Unsplash