Sometimes we get what we want only to realize that it’s not what we need. God sometimes gives us what we want, but He always gives us what we need. Look at the Lord’s Prayer; it asked for provision and protection, help with our own needs to be better Christians and forgiveness for times when we aren’t the Christians we should be. Does it ask for a bigger house? Does it ask for new shoes? A cooler car? A fancier job title? Nope. The only time the prayer (that Jesus told His followers to pray) asks for anything that is not a direct need for daily life, it asks for God’s will to be done. It could easily be argued that Jesus prayed for a lot of things and that this was just one prayer that He recommended, but I am simply using it as an example not an argument. My point is, what we want isn’t always what we need. Sometimes what we want is a tropical vacation, but what we need is to fix the foundation of the house we own. We could not know about the foundational needs of the house and end up going on the tropical vacation anyways and then later when we discover the problem with our house our money has already been spent on the vacation. Jesus always knows what we need. He sees everything that is going to happen. So, when what we want comes up, sometimes He stops us from having it because He knows that it will get in the way of what we need and in the end what we need is always more important than what we want. It’s not necessarily a happy thought, however, it is something that I am sure has happened to you in the past, because I know it has happened to me. There have been things that I have wanted with all my heart, but for some reason God didn’t answer those prayers; then later the need arises and I realize, If I had had my want, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with my need. Just a little food for thought.

White

The color white is a favorite of mine, probably because my first dog (whom I adore) was white. One thing about the color white that you learn quickly (especially if it’s on a pet) is that it stains really easily! My white little dog would sometime come back quite green or black from walks, sometimes both. As Christians we are washed white as wool from the scarlet stains of our sin, but can we become stained again? Of course. Sin never ceases, it’s part of life. We try hard not to get grass on our white robes but we trip and fall and then, oops, grass stains. Jesus forgives us daily so daily we must repent and turn back to Him. My mom once said, “it seems there is never a day without laundry,” I wonder if Jesus feels the same? Yet, like our loving parent, Jesus washes us clean again and then guards us as we venture back outside, knowing full well we will come back dirty again, but we have to keep growing and we can’t do that unless we go into the world and trust Jesus to love us enough to guide us and clean us up when we fall.