Gods Wants Us To Desire Him Above All Things
Pause:
Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus.
Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.
Read:
1 Samuel 1: 27-28: 27 I [Hannah] prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Going Deeper:
My husband, Erick, and I periodically think back to how we came to be at Restored. We love talking about this story, because we feel that it’s such an awesome testimony to God’s goodness in our lives and how he’s answered our prayers.
Since getting married, we prayed for a community to belong to. I yearned for a group of females to bond with and talk about all things Jesus and life. At the time, my marriage was very lonely. We were more like roommates, and I longed for a community to point us back to Christ when we were so focused on ourselves.
Thankfully, we came to Restored South Bay, and were almost immediately immersed in the family culture. We stepped into Gospel Communities, which is where you commit to a group of individuals to grow, learn, and walk in Christ with. It was almost too easy to become like a real family. We experienced the real joys, but also real conflicts. The closer relationships we built, the easier it became to see others and myself as the sinful people that we all are.
This is where discontentment in my relationships began to brood. When I should have been giving thanks to God for answering my prayers for a community, I was now holding resentment for not being treated the way I wanted. Differing personalities was causing me to separate myself from others, much like oil does to water. Ultimately, I was harboring a discontentment with the relationships God had placed me in. I thought I deserved something else, when in fact God was more worried about my heart.
I am encouraged by Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel, because she too was in a state of discontentment and extreme grief. At a time when children were seen as a women’s value in that culture, she had none. All she wanted was a child, but she was mocked by the other wife in the house who bore many children. In the bible, it shows Hannah taking charge by praying through her anguished situation.
Her prayers went from wanting a child solely for her fulfillment, to wanting a child for God’s purpose. Her desperate cries to God turned to her promising that she would even give her child up once he was weaned. Her son, Samuel, would grow up to be one of the greatest prophets used by God in the entire old testament.
You see, I desired friends that were picture-perfect like the books I had grown to read and aspire to be like. I was looking for the Harry and Ron to my Hermione.
When God did answer my prayer by bringing us into this community, I did not find solace in where He had placed me. No friendships in my sphere seemed worthy. I found fault in each person that tried to get to know me, and I didn’t trust God in the process.
This story is much different from Hannah in 1 Samuel. She had noticed amidst her desperation that she could cry out to the King of Heaven and be heard. Her letting go allowed her heart’s desires to be aligned with what God wanted for her.
I, on the other hand, had grown to desire perfect people and easy friendships above Jesus. My attitude, behavior, and actions were molded based on my circumstances. I even began doubting God’s goodness in my life based on how seemingly incompatible I was with those around me.
This story inspires me to see how much God wants us to desire Him over all things. I realized that when God brought us to Restored, he had answered more than my simple desire for friendship and community.
He brought me into a perfect relationship and union with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In these moments where I believe this, I can see how the community He has placed me in is for my own sanctification and for His glory.
It’s no longer, ‘What could I get out of this relationship,’ but ‘How can I offer this Gospel-centered relationship back to God as I glorify Him through my relationship?’
Pray:
Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.
Listen:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?
Apply:
What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?