Judges 10:11-14  The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” (NIV)

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This is what you don’t want to hear God say. 

The tribes of Israel had been saying, “I want it my way or no way at all,” and God said, “Fine, have it your way.” 

In other words, they got just what they wanted. 

In still other words, they got what they had coming. 

And still more other words: they didn’t want what they got. 

I’m pretty sure there’s a lesson here for all of us. 

What if instead they had said, “I want your way or no way at all?” 

What if they got just what God wanted for them? 

What if they got what God wanted to give them? 

What if they delighted themselves in all that God provided? 

As they experienced these options then, we experience these options now. 

As you enter this day, what do you want more of or less of? Do you want more of what God desires for you or more of what you want for yourself? 

Either way we go, we end up with what we really want most. It’s only by wanting what God wants for us that we end up with what is best for us, those related to us, and those influenced by us. 

Today is a good day, and now is a good time to say to God, “I want what you want for me. I want your goodness, mercy, and kindness to overflow my life into the lives of others. As you bless me, make me a blessing. As you enrich my walk with you, use me to draw others to your perfectly loving heart.” 

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I will ask for what God wants for me, knowing it to be superior to anything I could otherwise want for myself. 

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Our Father, I come to you today seeking not my own ideas regarding what is highest and best, but what is highest and best for me from your hand, and what is highest and best for you to work through me to serve others. Whatever you want, I want too. Amen.