“He gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.”  –  Psalm 106:15

The particular section in this Psalm recalls the tragic account of Israel’s complaining against the ways of the Lord in the wilderness from the eleventh chapter of Numbers. It is amazing how it depicts the depravity of human nature, even after witnessing the mighty works of God before their very eyes. We hear it said so many times, “If only I could witness the power of God in such a way that Israel did…how anyone could turn so quickly from the Lord is beyond me?!” In our lust and craving for the demonstration of God’s power we are blind to realize that it is not what turns and changes the human heart. We place more emphasis upon signs, wonders and miracles to make our gospel preaching effective, failing to understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the very power of God unto salvation. A regenerated soul is the greatest miracle we can ever witness. If signs and wonders follow then let them accompany, but our craving for them can be dangerously misleading. The greatest wonder to witness is to see a soul healed spiritually, where a divided heart becomes singular in its devotion to God. That soul will have more impact for the kingdom of God than the person who rallies thousands to see a fleshly display of physical healing wonders. We can be healed from many physical ailments and disabilities and yet remain as hard and stiff-necked as the children of Israel in the wilderness of blazing sin. Where our priorities lie reveal a whole lot about us.

As the Scriptures reveal, “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” says a lot about our era of Christianity. What is it we really desire as we pray? What motivates us to ask God for the things we long for? James says “you do not get because you ask with wrong motives.” And we have in Psalm 106:15 – The Lord gave them what they asked for. Their cravings were nothing but self-centred murmurs, pining endlessly for their comforts, and yet they had more than their hearts content until they were sick of it – more so, that while they were filling themselves after receiving what they yearned for, the Lord caused many to be struck by a deathly plague. God does answer prayer, sometimes He withholds; God will answer in ways to bless but also in ways to judge, to our ultimate blessing or destruction.

This is no light matter by far where any of us can afford to be apathetic concerning this. Prayers may get answered at times but not according to God’s actual will – to His desires. We live in a generation where much of Christianity primarily yearns for happiness rather than holiness and then wonder why we are so ineffective in our evangelism, and so rush off to catch the latest trend to make our version of Christianity popular again within our culture. True happiness inevitably follows holiness. New Testament Christianity never concerned itself to apologize at how different it was from the world but emphatically proclaimed the Way, the Truth and the Life. The early church learned to ask in His name being driven by a longing for God’s will, desiring the spread of His kingdom and not of their little empires!

We have it the wrong way round today. We want our careers, our finances to be secured, our nice homes and other comfort trimmings to go with it, and if God will provide that then we’ll ‘give’ Him all our lives. Conditions, requirements, demands as we bargain with God! What ever happened to the one and only rule in becoming a disciple of Christ – “let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”? We will never ‘count all things as rubbish’ in comparison to knowing Christ until we deny ourselves. Argue as much as we want against it, we are wasting our time with a Christless gospel until we reckon head on with this truth. Otherwise, we’re going to be looking back in time to come with agonizing regrets, and of course it’s always too late then as we’re accustomed to hearing.

God will sometimes give us what we selfishly request; we may have been granted our comforts and high flying lifestyles, but what does that do for the kingdom of God? How does that measure in light of eternity? We don’t think on these lines; we’re too preoccupied and in love with this world – the things that are passing and will fade to nothing. As Leonard Ravenhill was sick and tired of hearing Christians say, “You can be so heavenly minded you’re no earthly use.” To which he countered, “You can be so earthly minded you’re no heavenly use!” We need more heavenly minded people in our day, and I don’t mean the ones that are so detached from reality that they’re as ineffective as monks or nuns in society!

The trouble with Israel was its divided heart, mixed loyalties – no wonder David prayed, “Give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name.” David’s comforts and riches meant nothing to Him if God’s presence was not there; he could take them or leave them – God was the motive to his living. In the wilderness he desired the house of the Lord – His presence, his soul yearned for the living God, not his career, wealth, health, status or popularity. Today we want all that with a bit of God thrown into it as icing on the cake, and this is what is so pitiful that such a prevailing mentality today dictates how and what we pray for.

Someone may be going through a desperate trying time, so much to the point that you feel you cannot take anymore – it’s been too long. If you truly believe that God is in control of your life, of all the details, and that you have trusted entirely every aspect of your life in His hands, then know He will not give you or put you through any more than He knows you can really take. So many drop out and faint at this moment and opt for an easier route and way of living and compromise. They cry for deliverance and kick against the discipline of the Lord; they continually murmur and question His ways and wisdom until eventually they will get what they ask for and forfeit an incredible breakthrough with God that will make a difference and ring throughout all eternity. Let God’s deliverance come in His time and in His way – trusting wholly that our times are in His hands. We are preparing for eternity. Is our biggest aim to know Him, please Him, to want nothing more but His will? What do we want, where is our treasure? for that’s what we’re bound to and what we will find to obtain, possess and live with for eternity; it’s one master or the other, never both.