No matter how far we’ve come, it seems that some things just don’t change. When we look back at 1 Samuel 8 in the Bible, we see evidence that people who lived a thousand years before Christ was even born maybe aren’t all that different than people today. Oh, sure, they didn’t have smart phones, cars, or indoor plumbing, but they were still humans who wanted WHAT they wanted WHEN they wanted WHATEVER they wanted.
In the Bible account in 1 Samuel, chapter 8, the Israelites were getting concerned because their prophetic judge, Samuel, was getting old. Not only was he getting older by the day, they didn’t trust that his sons would do the right thing after their Dad was gone because those two hoodlums were swayed by money, even taking bribes to get the “bad guys” off the hook and trying to sway justice to let them walk free and unpunished. The Israelites wanted a King like the other nations had, and they thought that having their own King would result in having a system of fair justice and powerful leadership, as well as putting a stronger front to intimidate the other nations. (I’m taking some liberties here with my interpretation of the Bible story, but I want to paint a picture for you. Read it yourself and see what Holy Spirit shows you, I’m not offended if you read it a little differently.) The bottom line was that the Israelites didn’t trust this man of God because they didn’t trust God.
Samuel listened to the elders who had asked to speak with him, but he didn’t like what he heard coming out of their mouths. As he did with every decision, Samuel took his concerns about the people that he cared so deeply about to the Lord. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.” (1 Samuel 8:7 NLT)
The Lord even gave the Israelites, who God had guided out of Egypt and walked closely with for generations, another opportunity to change their path. He sent Samuel back to them with a solemn warning about the way a king would reign over them, and it was a pretty gloomy future that Samuel, the prophet, shared with them. The Israelites trusted Samuel, loved him, and had listened to him for a long time, but now they heard his words that were being delivered to them from the Lord about how oppressive and unfair a king would treat them, and yet they refused to listen to his warning. They still wanted a king. They still wanted what they wanted, when they wanted it. Why?
In spite of what Samuel said, the people refused to listen to him. “No!” they said. “We want a king to rule over us. Then we’ll be like all the other nations. We’ll have a king to lead us. He’ll go out at the head of our armies and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20 NIRV)
They had idolized the thoughts and dreamy imagination of what it would be like to have a king, and in doing so, they became tunnel-visioned. They would be like ALL the other nations, they had said, which showed that they were being misled and not seeing the bigger picture because they were COMPARING themselves to others and COVETING what they had. They were JEALOUS of the other nations who seemed to have it better than they did because those OTHER nations had A KING. Whether the other nations’ kings were truly good leaders or not, their people could hold up the face and the name of a king, which was enough to give the nation’s people an identity.
It’s similar to how we lift up a brand name today, a possession, a big name celebrity, a church affiliation, a political party, and we celebrate people based on popularity rather than their morals and Godly impact on the world, isn’t it? It’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in thinking that we just “HAVE to HAVE” this thing or be a part of this group, whatever the trend is at any given moment. The more that we think about it, the more that it seems like we’re the only one who doesn’t have one or the only one not going, and we want it more because of it. The more we allow it to consume our minds, the more this thing grows into being an idol for us, and we get more frustrated and tunnel-visioned moment by moment. If we aren’t a person who owns/has/is a ____________ (fill in the blank), then WHO ARE WE?
Do you see how quickly and easily it can be that we idolize a person, a thing, a concept, etc.? Do you see how quickly it can cloud our vision of who we ARE even though NOTHING has truly changed about who we are AT ALL? We feel lesser about ourselves because we are feeling a void within us. This is why it’s so important for us to realize that our IDENTITY needs to be firmly rooted in JESUS, and why we need to refocus our attention regularly as we humans innately have the urge to compare ourselves with others, covet the possessions of others, and become selfish over getting exactly what we want.
We Want What We Want, When We Want Whatever We Want.
Notice the letter W’s in the sentence above and take a look at the picture below as we shift our perspectives a bit. If we humans are on the ground, each of us with a W, then we are like vessels to be filled. And that we ARE… vessels always needing to be filled, right? At the core, we all desire to have our basic needs met, but then, no matter how much we have, most of us want more, and more, and more, with no end in sight. On the other side of our desires to be filled is thinking about where, what, and who meets those needs and the “above and beyond” that we want with no end.
If we can realize that by focusing our natural-born propensity to experience tunnel vision when we strongly desire something, to focusing it on the “where, what and who” that will provide all that we need, then we will actually feel satisfied and content. By attaching ourselves to God’s will, his purpose for us, and following his plans, our “W” will always be full and constantly refilled as we stay connected to him.
What if it’s not such a bad thing that we, as humans, have always Wanted What We Want, When We Wanted Whatever We Wanted? What if God is able to use this strong and passionate desire that we have to be filled to overflowing to actually reveal his Glory? What if it’s part of his design that as Christians start to realize that by partnering with his son and our Saviour, Jesus, we will never be without? What if we want to be like others because of their HOLINESS, because of their SHINING LIGHT, and because of their LOVE? What if we want more of JESUS because we are not impressed by anything else on this earth? What if we refuse to lift anything up and desire it more than we desire time with our Lord, our God?
What if we realize that only our Creator knows what we need, so we begin to scream like toddlers at the top of our lungs, “NOW!!! I WANT IT!! Give me what YOU KNOW I need, God, because I WANT IT!!”
And then he gives us everything that he knows is best for us… because he loves us.
And we are filled and being refilled continually, and there is no longer a void within us.
And then… we are completely at peace and content.