Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Wants, Whims, and Wishes

I don’t remember asking for a lot of things when I was a kid.  But I certainly remember asking for a piano because that’s all I cared about when I was in third grade. I couldn’t play a lick, but my parents purchased a brand new instrument and the rest is history. My life was forever changed by the wonderful world of piano music. (My dad said it was the best investment he ever made.) However, when I asked my mom for a baby brother or sister she said, “No.” So I immediately asked for the next-best thing, which was a monkey, and she said, “No” again. So I know what it’s like to ask and receive and to also ask and not receive. For all I know, that monkey could have chewed off half my fingers and that would have ended my lifetime of piano-playing fun.

We all have dreams, wants, and needs. I think God-given dreams and goals are healthy and give us something to look forward to accomplishing. God’s Word tells us, “…Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” (James 4:2b NLT). Sometimes believers ask God and we still don’t receive it. When we acknowledge that God is wiser than we are, we can pray for wants and needs and close the prayer with, “Lord, You know more than I do, so if what I’m asking for would not be good for me, then don’t give it to me. I trust You with everything concerning my life.”

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. …We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed“ (2 Corinthians 4:8,9b NLT). When troubles come to me, I have a self-centered tendency to think I’m the only one going through the tunnel of “tough-stuff.” I have to remind myself that real life comes to all of us. I appreciate the following scripture from the pen of Apostle Peter: “Beloved friends, if life gets extremely difficult, with many tests, don’t be bewildered as though something strange were overwhelming you” (1 Peter 4:12 TPT).

All of us would vote for constant smooth sailing when it comes to living our life. But that’s simply unrealistic. It all boils down to the fact that we’re not yet residing in heaven, so life is not going to be perfect on this planet. But God is on the side of the weakest believer who, in simple childlike trust, yields and depends on Him to provide help and guidance.

In 1994, Christian recording artist Janet Paschal composed and recorded a gospel song entitled, “If I’d Had My Way.” The lyrics are thought-provoking and I’ve come to appreciate the message more and more through recent years. My life has made twists and turns that I’d not anticipated;  nevertheless, I trust God’s wisdom over mine. Here are Paschal’s poignant lyrics: “If I’d had my way about it, I’d have danced in grassy fields and fragrant meadows. And risen in the morning just to hear the robin’s lovely melody. I’d have rested in wide spaces, high above the hurting places. And found a cross that asked much less of me. Never sailed in raging winds or troubled seas, if You’d thought it best to leave it up to me. But if I’d had my way, I might have been wading through the river when You wanted me to walk upon the sea. And if I’d had my say and all of my wants and whims and wishes, You knew how weak, how shallow I would be…If I’d had my way.”

The Key: Believers may ask away and then trust God to have His way.