What does our LORD desire?
Yesterday, I took a walk (12,000 steps I was told once we returned to our rented house), and as I walked, I took in the beauty found within the place in which we are staying—the streets, the shops, the sea, the people, the air, the cobblestone, the quaint city that rests upon the island just off the coast, and the castle that we climbed to explore.
As we walked, each of us began to perspire, for the heat of the day beat down upon our heads, & the elevation of the walk to the top of the castle wall was an arduous journey.
Nevertheless, even though the journey was long, & even though the journey was not always one of ease, we knew we would receive a most wonderful reward. As we traveled along, for within the journey throughout the 5th Century castle, we found our destination quite worth the sweat, thirst, and steps.
As we walked, we paused to drink sips from shared water bottles, never really quenching our thirst but hydrating just the same, as we traveled.
In arising on this new day, I found myself comparing yesterday’s walk to our walk through life with our LORD, and I found myself led to these questions:
As we walk through our days—
- How do we know we are following God’s desires for our lives?
- Have we really ever stopped to consider what God desires (for us)?
Oftentimes, we see life as this or that; either good or evil; as either do this or do not do that; as something black or something white, while in reality, maybe it is not so much what we should NOT do but what we SHOULD DO.
Let me explain in the best way—through a Scripture passage.
Please go with me into the book of the prophet Isaiah.
“For My thoughts are not
(Isaiah 55: 8-11 NASB)
your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens are
higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher
than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
And do not return there without
watering the earth,
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower
and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which
goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the
purpose for which I sent it.”
God’s Word is the very mind of God put into words. These words are the Word of Truth we can live by, abide by, and stake our lives upon as we walk day-by-day. In re-reading this passage from the Bible, I was reminded how we (or maybe just I) normally stop after reading verses 8 & 9, but in placing those two verses WITH verses 10 & 11, we can see what our LORD desires (of His creation).
So we must ask ourselves:
- Do we desire to be pleasing to our Father, to the Creator of all things?
OR
- Do we desire to be pleasing to our own wants, wishes, and hopes for our lives?
Our answer that comes to our mind will reveal the truth about each one of us.
The prophet Isaiah tells us:
- God’s thoughts—are not our thoughts.
- God’s ways—are not mankind’s ways.
- The heavens—are higher than the earth.
- God sends the rain—to water the earth.
- God sends the rain—to produce and sprout.
- God provides—for the sower and for the consumer.
- God’s Word—when shared—& God’s Word—which comes from the very words of God:
“It will not return to Me empty,
(Isaiah 55: 11b NASB)
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the
purpose for which I sent it.”
Thus, it is not up to God’s children to decide when, or where, or how, or even why we are to share the Word of God with the world.
NO!
That is not what our LORD desires!
Our LORD desires that we walk within His will & not our own.
Our calling is to share God’s Word as the Holy Spirit leads us and leave the harvest to the Creator.
Through faithful reading of the Word & through faithful communication with the LORD, we are given the opportunity to know what our LORD desires (of us & for us).
It is GOD who determines what is good & what is evil, when is the right time & when it is not; we (the created) are not qualified to do so.
Only the CREATOR of all things is qualified!
How do we know?
“For My thoughts are not
(Isaiah 55: 8-9 NASB)
your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens are
higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher
than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
So, what does our LORD desire?
Let me explain in the best way (again)—through a Scripture passage.
Please go with me into the book of John where we see our Savior meeting with a woman at the well, a woman who was lost and going to hell—before she experienced this encounter with the Savior.
“Jesus replied to her,
(John 4: 10 NASB)
[when she asked why a Jewish man would ask for a drink from a Samaritan woman]
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
The Samaritan woman then selfishly asks Jesus for this “living water” so that she does not need to go to the well ever again in the hottest part of the day, while the sun beats down upon her head.
“Jesus answered and said to her,
(John 4: 11b NASB)
[when she inquired about where to get this living water]
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again;
(John 4: 13-14 NASB)
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
What does our LORD desire?
- That ALL will come to know Him as Savior!
- That ALL of His saved will read His Word & talk with Him through prayer daily!
- That ALL of His redeemed will walk in communion with Him moment-by-moment!
- That ALL who are His children will share His Word (as He leads) with those who remain lost!
- That ALL who are lost (to Him) will drink of the “living water” Jesus offers!
- That ALL who are lost (to Him) will freely accept this “living water” where it “will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4: 14b NASB)
THIS TRULY IS WHAT OUR LORD DESIRES!
We know because the Word of God says so & God’s Word never lies!