{"id":1005,"date":"2024-06-12T18:58:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T23:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/?p=1005"},"modified":"2024-10-08T16:11:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T21:11:03","slug":"wanting-what-god-wants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/","title":{"rendered":"Wanting What God Wants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and saves me \u2013 God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.<\/em><\/p>\n

Psalm 57: 2, 3, 7<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Without Christ not one step, with Him anywhere.<\/p>\n

David Livingstone<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In my book, Joyous Faith: The Key to Aging with Resilience,<\/a> I contemplate the hard issues of learning to trust God during the seasons of life when we must let go. Some time ago, I sat with a close friend and we were discussing our families in general\u2026our elderly parents in particular. At the time, both of my parents were doing well so my contribution to the conversation was minimal at best.\u00a0 My friend\u2019s folks\u2026not so much. As my friend described her parents\u2019 need to go into a retirement home and how hard it had been on her mom most especially, my dear friend lamented not being closer to them in physical proximity. I listened as she described her mother\u2019s sadness and grief at the thought of this major life change so late in her life. It has always been her hope to live in their family home until she died. But with one unexpected illness after another, it became a matter of safety first and foremost. Personal preference ran a distant second.<\/p>\n

Aging and loss go hand in hand<\/strong><\/h2>\n* ** *So came the lingering grief. The loss of independence. The dismantling of a lifelong home full to the brim with material possessions as well as treasured memories. My friend truly understood her mom\u2019s sorrow and entered into her suffering as a beloved daughter and fellow Christ follower. My friend wondered how her always-in-the-past stalwart faith-filled mom would fare living down another wing of the retirement home from her spouse. For the first time, she would be separated from her beloved husband who is suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s and would be placed in the memory care unit. My friend wondered if this separation might very well send her mother to an early death.<\/p>\n Learning to trust God with hard seasons<\/strong><\/h2>\n***** ** *****Silently, we sat contemplating the situation and commiserating on how challenging these kind of life changes are to everyone involved. My friend looked thoughtful then said, \u201cI wish my parents could have lived out their lives in their own home. But it cannot be. So, I have to learn to want what God wants more than what I want.\u201d Say that again? \u201cI have to want what God wants more than what I want.\u201d My friend and I looked at each other and nodded in agreement letting that profound truth sink in.<\/p>\n When we let go, God rushes in with abundant grace<\/strong><\/h2>\n \u201cGod sends forth his love and his faithfulness. My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music<\/em>.\u201d Oh that each of us would respond to life\u2019s unwanted and most difficult life challenges with this robust confidence as expressed here in Psalm 57. The price, I know, of a steadfast heart is a willingly surrendered one.<\/a> Some days, some situations, I easily offer up my will for God\u2019s. Other days, different situations, I cling all the more tightly to my own preferences and carefully laid plans.<\/p>\n We can learn to desire what God wants and discover freedom there<\/strong><\/h2>\n********* ** One lesson I have learned from the echoes of my friend\u2019s sage words, \u201cI have to want what God wants more than what I want,\u201d is that my willing surrender to God\u2019s plans for me always makes the change less painful. Truly. It is difficult enough to accept unwanted disruptions in life without attempting to forestall God in the midst of it. So, I pray my prayers of willing submission. I implore God to fill me with the wisdom, grace, and strength to step through life\u2019s next door. I beg him to change my heart most of all so that I truly do learn to, \u201cWant what God wants more than what I want.\u201d Every day. Every time. Through every change. As David Livingstone says, \u201cWithout Christ not one step, with Him anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ** *********I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and saves me \u2013 God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Psalm 57: 2, 3, 7 \u00a0 Without Christ not one step, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5318,"featured_media":1017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[438,429,435,432],"class_list":["post-1005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-devotion","tag-finding-hope-and-joy-in-gods-will","tag-learning-to-desire-gods-will-above-my-own","tag-submitting-to-gods-plan","tag-wanting-what-god-wants"],"yoast_head":"\nWanting What God Wants<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0One lesson I have learned from the echoes of my friend\u2019s sage words, \u201cI have to want what God wants more than what I want,\u201d is that my willing surrender to God\u2019s plans for me always makes the change less painful.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wanting What God Wants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0One lesson I have learned from the echoes of my friend\u2019s sage words, \u201cI have to want what God wants more than what I want,\u201d is that my willing surrender to God\u2019s plans for me always makes the change less painful.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Michele Howe Writes and Reviews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MicheleHoweAuthor\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-12T23:58:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-08T21:11:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/2042\/2024\/06\/grandfather-8598082_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michele Howe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@reviewermom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michele Howe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/\",\"name\":\"Wanting What God Wants\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-12T23:58:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-08T21:11:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/#\/schema\/person\/4c69d49ed101908835a1b9c0f08dd2cb\"},\"description\":\"\u00a0One lesson I have learned from the echoes of my friend\u2019s sage words, \u201cI have to want what God wants more than what I want,\u201d is that my willing surrender to God\u2019s plans for me always makes the change less painful.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/2024\/06\/wanting-what-god-wants\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wanting What God Wants\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michelehowewrites\/\",\"name\":\"Michele Howe Writes and Reviews\",\"description\":\"MicheleHoweWrites will offer thoughtful essays which unpack Christian biblical principles to apply in daily life. 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