Tuesday, September 27, 2005

You Can't Always Get What You Want

You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes, you just might find You get what you need! While watching Rock Star: INXS, I was instantly captivated by this Rolling Stones song. It inspired me to go out and purchase my first ever Stones album. I decided to get their excellent compilation Forty Licks. Wisest secular purchase I've ever made--this album quite frankly rocks. But it was the chorus that captivated me, not just the sounds. "You can't always get what you want." How true is that? Oftentimes we ask God for many things, and get very very few of them. Why is that? I have come to the conclusion that we have confused wants with needs. Wants are things that one can live without; such as a TV or the newest sports car. Needs are things that, if one does not have them, will cause death or at the very least severe injury. These things are necessities such as food, water, shelter, and basic clothing; and can be expanded to include other things as well, as long as they are necessary for simple existence. Suddenly I understand why men and women get drawn into affairs. It is a failure to control their wants. I am currently writing a sermon based on this chorus, and in the process I was thinking of examples of wants and needs, when unbidden I got a picture in my head of my old best friend under the "wants" column. I wanted her, I wanted us to become a couple and hopefully one day get married and have children. In the words of an old ministry boss I had, she consumed me. She would have satisfied my wants. But I did not know that she could never fill my need for a "helpmate." Second, I got a picture in my head of Tricia under the "needs" column. Something seemed so right about that. Something about her satisfies every need I ever had where women and relationships are concerned. Strangely enough, my wants are quelled in her as well! I have what is called contentment with her. I like that! So basically, getting what you want will never give you contentment, but getting what you need can satisfy you so totally that you cease to want. That's why all these men and women cheat on their spouses--they fail to control their wants, and they fail to realize that contentment is right under their noses; or more intimately lying next to them in bed every night! So they pursue what they think they want. This is an epiphany of the highest order. I must sleep on this and praise God.

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