What God Wants Most
“Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.”
Growing up, I carried around a wrong idea about what God really wanted from me. I thought He cared most about me being perfect, avoiding sin, reading my Bible and praying every day. I thought what God wanted most was for me not to fail. I was wrong.
I’m not saying God doesn’t care about any of those things -- or that I shouldn’t work on being disciplined in my choices. I’m saying my understanding of God was skewed. I was thinking about God like a stern, demanding basketball coach who wanted me never to miss a lay-up or shoot sloppy three-pointers. In a way, I imagined Him shaking his head in disappointment every time I blew it. Yes, He cared about me in that gruff, coachly way, but His approval was based on my “doing my best” and steadily improving. I was wrong.
Here’s the problem: My view of God was all about me “doing,” but His Word finally convinced me that what He wants most from me is to focus on His doing. In short, He wants me to trust Him. He wants me to be needy and clingy and dependent on Him for everything. What He wants most is for me to trust Him, to believe Him, to turn to Him when I’m worried or angry, to thank Him when things go well, to hold on tight to Him all the time. He wants me to talk to Him, read His words, and obey Him because I can’t live without Him -- not to earn His approval or show off my own skills..
As a king of Israel, Hezekiah’s years on the throne weren’t exactly the glory days of David and Solomon. He started strong, but if you read 1 Kings 18-20 you’ll see he didn’t make all the right choices. In fact, he had some significant character flaws. But in today’s passage, we’re told there just wasn’t another king like him. Why? Because he “held fast” to the Lord. Other translations say he “clung” to God.
In the New Testament, nearly every book makes the same point. The strongest Christians are the ones who finally get around to giving up and leaning hard on the God who likes them. For everything.
--2 Kings 18:5-7
Growing up, I carried around a wrong idea about what God really wanted from me. I thought He cared most about me being perfect, avoiding sin, reading my Bible and praying every day. I thought what God wanted most was for me not to fail. I was wrong.
I’m not saying God doesn’t care about any of those things -- or that I shouldn’t work on being disciplined in my choices. I’m saying my understanding of God was skewed. I was thinking about God like a stern, demanding basketball coach who wanted me never to miss a lay-up or shoot sloppy three-pointers. In a way, I imagined Him shaking his head in disappointment every time I blew it. Yes, He cared about me in that gruff, coachly way, but His approval was based on my “doing my best” and steadily improving. I was wrong.
Here’s the problem: My view of God was all about me “doing,” but His Word finally convinced me that what He wants most from me is to focus on His doing. In short, He wants me to trust Him. He wants me to be needy and clingy and dependent on Him for everything. What He wants most is for me to trust Him, to believe Him, to turn to Him when I’m worried or angry, to thank Him when things go well, to hold on tight to Him all the time. He wants me to talk to Him, read His words, and obey Him because I can’t live without Him -- not to earn His approval or show off my own skills..
As a king of Israel, Hezekiah’s years on the throne weren’t exactly the glory days of David and Solomon. He started strong, but if you read 1 Kings 18-20 you’ll see he didn’t make all the right choices. In fact, he had some significant character flaws. But in today’s passage, we’re told there just wasn’t another king like him. Why? Because he “held fast” to the Lord. Other translations say he “clung” to God.
In the New Testament, nearly every book makes the same point. The strongest Christians are the ones who finally get around to giving up and leaning hard on the God who likes them. For everything.
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