Real Benefits

Today I was thinking about the culture we live in and how we are so affected by it.  One thing that we are taught at a very early age is to consider how we can achieve 'maximize benefits'.  When we buy a car, we try to get the very most from our investment--the best warranty, the best options for convenience etc.  When we are negotiating for a new job we try to attain the most coverage from an employee insurance policy, or the best possible holiday package.  The examples are endless and every one makes sense to us.  In fact, for us to do any less would be considered irresponsible.

I am bothered by this however.  Why?  Because it seems that this pursuit of maximum benefit for ourselves gets to be so commonplace, that it becomes a part of how we interact with our whole world.  Every part of our daily lives gets subsumed into this mentality of 'maximum benefit'. 

It really does translate into us living as consumers.  We consume in order to increase benefit in our personal lives.  Which is maybe not so horrible when it comes to pure economics (though even here I think we need some serious moderation!), but if this way of living seeps into other non-economic areas then we are in trouble.  Not sure what I mean?  Here are a few examples:

Imagine a married couple who have been together for 25 years.  The kids move out of the home and the couple are left on their own now.  They begin to imagine a new life for themselves and each one dreams of new beginnings.  The problem arises when the individual dreams don't mesh and neither is willing to compromise.  Eventually, living together as a married couple takes second place to the desire of each person to achieve 'maximum benefit' for themselves.  It makes more sense to pursue their own desires separately because to stay with each other would require sacrifice that would diminish the individual's dreams.

Or how about in church?  If someone attends church with the attitude of attaining this maximum benefit then there is little to hold them there if they base their attendance primarily on how they feel.  If they are not feeling good, then the church is not satisfying their desire for maximum benefit and the consumer mentality kicks in again and it is so easy to simply leave and look somewhere else where this selfish desire is satisfied.

But God's message is radically different than what our sin-soaked culture teaches us.  In Psalm 103:1-2 David writes: "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits."

Forget not all his benefits.  On the surface this could be made to sound like God is extending to us benefits that will satisfy our longings.  And in part this true.  He is concerned about our longings but He also knows far better than us that often our longings themselves are not what need to be addressed, but the issues that give rise to our longings!

If we feel that we are not getting what we want, our response is to seek out the thing we think we need.  For example:  church is unsatisfying--go to a different church.  Or: marriage is unsatisfying--seek out a different relationship that will fill my desire.  Our sin causes us to seek out our own maximum benefit and blinds us to what causes the desire in the first place.  We think:  Change our external surroundings/situation to address my desires.  God thinks:  you are running after things and ignoring the real issue.  I want to help you overcome your selfishness first!

God says to us "yes you have needs and longings, but I am here to teach you what are right longings and what are wrong longings, because I love you."  God wants to direct you in your search to find the satisfaction you so desire, but on His terms not yours.

We can see this is true but we resist it and we resist God.  At the risk of over-generalizing here is an example: if a couple who were considering separating or divorce were to seek God's direction as to what to do, likely they would hear from Him 'stay'.  Why?  Because His desire is to genuinely bless what He puts in place and He put them together.  But the searching heart that wants selfish maximum benefit resists God in this because His answer doesn't seem to satisfy the immediate desire, which is to get out and run.  God's benefits are not what we want so we seek our own.

God wants to provide real benefits not our selfish ones.  Here is what He says He offers to those who will trust Him with their lives (not just for salvation, but for all their daily lives and decisions):  (Verse 3ff) "[God] forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, [He] redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, [He] satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

So if you find yourself in a situation where you may be choosing a change in life stop and consider two things: 1.  Am I responding to a selfish, personally driven desire to achieve maximum benefit for myself?  2. Am I actually willing to stop and invite God to show me if I should stay or go--and then really wait on Him for an answer before I do anything? 

If you choose the second option, you will be setting yourself up to receive God's real benefits for your life, and you will begin to live in a freedom from the prison of selfishness that will never stop tearing you up from the inside out.  Trust God and He promises to heal the real issues in your soul;  He promises to lift you out of your pit of seeking personal maximum benefit and will replace it with a desire to live for others that brings so much more personal benefit.  He promises to place love on you that will transform the way you think about yourself and others, and He will pour compassion on you that will satisfy your desires with good things.

I'm excited for you--because you are right on the doorstep of a whole new life!  What will you choose?

BT