Sunday, October 5, 2008

I Want It All

I was at a women’s conference not too long ago and heard the speaker say that her husband tells the Lord every day that he wants all He has for him for that day, and if there is someone who doesn’t want their portion he’ll take it too. I thought it was cute and funny, but I didn’t realize that God would use it to spur my spiritual life more than anything else that I heard that day.

I’m not used to asking for things that I want. For reasons that I won’t go into on the internet, I’ve never been comfortable asking for what I want, but I think it is mostly because for a long time I have been under the impression that I’m not worth the cost of most things that catch my eye (whether that cost be financial or simple physical effort). I guess I’ve always sort of believed that it was wrong to put someone out for something that I didn’t deserve in the first place (which, by the way, has made it a constant struggle to accept God’s free gift of grace).

It suddenly occurred to me the day of that conference, though, that each and every day of my life, God has preordained blessings that He has set aside just for me. It’s not selfish to ask Him for what He has already decided to give me! In fact, I bet nothing brings Him greater joy than a child who wants to receive every ounce of the full life He died to give her.

Not taking every blessing He offers would be like being offered a gigantic piece of cake on your birthday and only taking one small bite in the name of “being polite”. Not only are you insulting the host and causing the rest of the slice of cake to be thrown out, but you’re missing out on the gift that was made just for you!

It’s going to take a while to sink in, but I have to come to a place of realizing that God has blessings lined up for me every day, and that He’s already paid a price for them that He says I am totally worth. Old habits are hard to break, even if they are the habits of not doing something. Somehow, though, I want to get in the habit of asking God for everything He has for me – every word, every conviction, every whisper, every miracle – I don’t want to miss out on a crumb of blessing!

How about you? Has it ever occurred to you that God has piles of blessings marked with your name, and that it isn’t selfish to simply ask for them?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one. If you’re new to blogging and have never left a comment before, just click on the little line below this that says “__ Comments” (that blank will be some kind of number). You don’t have to have a blogger profile to do this – you can comment anonymously and simply type your name in your comment. Be sure to leave your email address if you want me to respond to your comment though!



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is something I struggle with too. Thanks for giving me advice yet again like you do so many times :) I hope you got my emails too, tell me if you didn't. Love ya!
Emily

On Purpose said...

I often share that I am "selfish" and don't want to miss anything God has for me...! The extremes!

How are you doing?

Jami said...

Thanks Sam! And I just want to emphasize that you are SO TOTALLY WORTH IT! I love you!