If you don’t get what you want

May 25, 2010 | 10 comments

I didn’t get something I wanted and felt sorry for myself a few days back.

It’s usually very easy for me to drop these things, but this time it wasn’t.

Lingering questions of, “Maybe this person doesn’t like me anymore? I’ve been black-balled! I must have offended someone…” and so on kept grinding through my consciousness.

Reaching out to Christ for peace of mind and praying to halt the childish ruminating, I suddenly was jolted alert with what seemed like a decree from on High of, “Well, Evan, it you didn’t have your heart set on a particular material outcome, you wouldn’t be grousing around disappointed now that it didn’t happen!”

It felt like a swift slap to the face. But it was needed. Self-pity and woe-me commiserating is moral and spiritual weakness. Its selfishness let loose.

So I pondered the message—deeply.

And in thinking it through, I queried, “Wouldn’t life be so much easier if I never had any material wants, if I never thought in terms of what I wanted or desired, but always in terms of where God was taking me?”

Whoa! This was like chains and shackles let loose.

To get what I’m talking about, let me ask you, “How much time do you spend wanting things? How much time do you spend seeking what you want? And oftentimes to no avail? It could be for a certain income, position, respect from others, recognition, relationship and so on. How much time do you spend upset over not getting something you wanted?”

If you honestly added up all the time the above questions might tally, it might be a whole huge portion of your life! And that amounts to a whole lot of wasted time.

As I’ve progressed spiritually over the years, I’ve sacrificed major wants that I thought were impossible to let go of at the time. But afterward found huge freedom that I didn’t know was possible. Sacrificing a secure job and salary to enter the full-time healing ministry was one of them. One of the wisest decisions I ever made.

I’ve tasted the joy of living a want-free life. It is very freeing, liberated, buoyant and healthy. It’s easy to get inspired and stay inspired when not burdened by personal wants and selfish desires.

As I prayed, I began to understand the message better in terms of: “Let go of your personal wants. Don’t live for selfish purposes. Don’t think about what you want. Focus on where God is taking you. It’s always a better place than you could plan or figure out on your own.”

Finally, remorse over the loss I thought I had experienced totally lifted. It vanished. I learned my lesson and was truly happy.

Interestingly, much later in the day, the opportunity I thought I had been excluded from came my way anyway. It was simply a notice sent off late. I read the email and said, “See Evan! Never doubt. God is always taking care of you better than you could ever figure out on your own.”

Oh man, God is so good. But I have so much to learn…

I’m going to keep working on living a want-free life. I have a lot of progress to make, I expect. But the question, “Where is God taking me?” feels so much better than “What do I want?” It never sets you up for disappointment.

10 thoughts on “If you don’t get what you want”

  1. interesting that the suggested reasons for not getting what you want had to do with a sense of what other people thought of you. So often that seems causative. blackballed. wow.

  2. Last night lying in bed I prayed about not focusing on material stuff. Food, clothes, income. Etc. This morning the loaves and fishes story came to mind. That carefree supply was the natural state. It was no miracle, just the clear understanding and evidence of what is always here. No need to waste time wanting, just spend your time listening (as the massive crowd did) and true spiritual perception occurs. Could those crowds have partaken of the loaves and fishes if they weren’t already filled up by Christ thought? And then your story! Thank you Evan and thank you God for so clearly answering my late night prayers.

  3. Sometimes it is not clear to me if what I seem to want is from selfish motives or is the angel guidance from God. I am an artist and do a lot of volunteer work involving sharing art with others. As I pray and ask for God’s guidance I try to stay focused on the qualities of Spirit and find ideas of artistic possibilities keep intruding. They are clear and wonderful creative ideas, but seem to be coming at an inappropriate time since I want to be focusing on God and the qualities I express as His image and likeness. Could you comment on this?

  4. Who is the man in the picture on this site? I asked a while back and never received a response. Thank you.

  5. Evan, I just want to thank you for being so honest in your blog. It is just simply helpful to hear how an advanced spiritual healer deals with all these material pulls that each of us deal with. And frankly, it’s comforting knowing I’m not alone.

  6. You are welcome! It’s nice and very freeing to live with a clear conscience–with nothing to hide.

  7. To anon and the question about sorting out wants…

    When our #1 goal is to leave all for Christ, we’ll always make the best decision. In practical everyday experience, no one is truly ready to “leave all for Christ.” We do it in degrees, step by step. So, when confronted with options, which one chosen will lead to the most rapid spiritual progress, and still enable you to demonstrate dominion, sufficiency and well being in the situation you are currently dealing with?

    Mortal mind likes to keep us busy doing things, and many of those things seem very worthwhile, but if we let mortal mind decide our course of action, we likely will steer off spiritual course at some point and find ourselves shipwrecked. Follow Christ first, and you set yourself up for long run major success.

  8. I am thoroughly enjoying your keen insight and always to the point spiritual lessons. Thank you so much. It is finals week at the high schools, could you do a column on test taking and exam anxiety for my son?

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