” Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39
Christians like the rest of man are filled with desires and wants. It is part of who we are in the natural. The free will God has given man allows us to do what we see as best. If man was wiser, we would all be like Jesus and choose God’s perfect will (Matt26:39). But we are not and we don’t. Life decisions should be easy but are often clouded by the love for things we have here that compete for our heart space. If we allow ourselves to get attached to the things here, we will find that our will for God’s things, those things that really matter, is weak and expresses itself in a rather shallow way. This is when the desire for the things and experiences in this life gains greater value than being with and knowing God personally. Lost to us in the pursuit of what we see as important to our natural mind is the simple truth that God is the one who truly can satisfy our souls.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11
Having dreams and desires is not wrong until we put then above God and His perfect will. We have a choice to make. Moses did too. Moses was confronted by a tremendously difficult choice. Unlike most of us, we won’t ever have to choose between God and riches, fame, unlimited pleasure and power but Moses had this decision to make. Raised as Pharaoh’s son he was heir to part of the empire which at that time meant most of the world. If Moses said yes to the world, he would gain what most people believe are the most important things in life, security, wealth, pleasure, power and fame. He would have the best and be able to reach out and take more if he wanted to. Perhaps he would become famous and have stone monuments craved out in his image. For most people this kind of a choice would be hard to say no to and many would think it would require no thought at all. What could be better than to have all the best of this life? But there must be more to this question than because Moses wasn’t a fool. He grew up in privilege so he was educated and able but he chose not to accept.
From Moses’ example, we can see that the decision to abandon Egypt didn’t happen in a moment but grew out of Moses’ experience with God. Faith is the ingredient that leads us to trust God. Without faith we won’t fully believe in God and what He says. Moses’ life teaches us that we must allow God to grow our faith through trials and His word. God will lead us in to trials so that we are unable to overcome then we will turn to Him in faith. He will use this time to change us for the better (James 1:1-4). If we are to say no to this world, not following in its thinking and actions (Rom 12:2) than we must believe that God is going to do what He says. Therefore, faith is a key ingredient to turning from the world to God. Stop and ask yourself is there an area in your life where you are making the decisions because you want to make sure you get what you want, not what God wants. Have you trusted God 100% and are willing to live by this decision? If not ask God why? Make time to find this search. We often can’t see our own weaknesses, but God knows.