Too often, we treat our relationship with God as if we were ordering something from Amazon. We think we can peruse the options and click on the things that look most appealing to us. I’ll take an order of peace – immediate delivery; a couple bags of success; and a consistent supply of getting-things-my-way.
We learned when we were children that God was around and could help us in our need. We don’t need Him all the time, but we check in when there is some discomfort, make our request, and tap our feet impatiently as we wait for the prize to come.
We misinterpret verses like this one to mean that God is our Cosmic Vending Machine. There at our beck and call to fulfill our every superficial wish.
The Lord, however, wants more for us. Not less. More. He wants us to feast. He wants us to eat what will truly fulfill us. He wants to give us meaning and purpose, belonging and love.
God wants to give us what we really want. Not the safe and superficial substitutions we imagine. The real thing. Love. Joy. Purpose. He is not interested in the shadowed version of our longings, the perversions we’ve mistaken for our desires. He is interested in what we truly want, what is truly best for us.