I Want More
What do you want more of?
Verse of the Day
May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.
Today’s Devotional
Do you have the disease of “MORE”? I do. If I have one item of something I like, I want ten. If I get 8 hours of sleep, I wish I would have had 9. If I have one basket of chips and one bowl of salsa, I want at least one or two more of each. To the point of being miserable after I’ve eaten them all. If I have 4 cute shirts, I want 20. If I have 2 hours to relax, I wish I had 4. Do you get the picture?
Until a few years ago, I had never experienced the desire to have more of God. My relationship with God was rote. I was checking a box. My time with God and the Word was one of doing what I thought I “should” do as a Christian.
God has been (and is) doing work in my heart about this. The more time I am spending actually worshipping God and praying for God’s will in my life, the more I want of God. And I don’t mean that I just want the blessings, I want GOD. I want to see and experience and feel His love for me, and for the rest of His children. And let’s be honest, not every day in this broken world is pleasant and full of God moments. But the more I talk to God throughout my day, the more I notice the small acts of kindness and mercy that exist all around me.
Have you ever been shopping for a new car, and all of a sudden you notice that same kind of car everywhere you go? That’s because your ability to notice that certain type of car has been awakened. (The science behind this phenomenon states that we have created and activated a new pathway in the brain.) It’s not like those cars are just suddenly appearing now that you are in the market for one. But now, because of something shifting in your direct experience, your ability to notice what was already there has come to life.
I believe that the same phenomenon happens to us spiritually. When I’m praying for kindness in my actions and how I treat others, I begin to notice the kindness of others. When I’m studying peace, I begin to notice the peacefulness (or lack thereof) in others. When I have survived a difficult season, I have compassion for others in a similar circumstance that was not possible before I had lived it. We all have the ability to create and activate new spiritual pathways on our brains.
The mercy of God is new every morning and never ending. But I have to be aware of my need for mercy to notice its existence and to experience more of it. The peace of God is always available to me through faith in Jesus, but I have to take my eyes off of my circumstances and turn them back to Jesus for me to experience His Peace. The more I do that, the more peace I will have. And then there’s love. The more love I give away, the more I have in my life. The more I kneel at the feet of Jesus, the more love He pours into my heart, which then overflows to the people around me. But I have to choose to focus on God’s never-ending, sacrificial love for me instead of focusing on my sin and unworthiness. Because God is love, and His love never fails. No matter who I am or what I’ve done. Which really is Good News. Which makes me want more.
What if we each did this: Since we are focusing on solitude right now, what if we ask God to help us create and activate a pathway of peace in our brain? I believe we would notice peace in others. I believe we would see the benefits of peaceful behavior. I believe that we could see peaceful possibilities in the midst of unpeaceful situations as we activate this peace-pathway in our brain. Then we can choose the behaviors that seek peace. My prayer today is that the God of Peace will pour Himself out on us today as we seek Him by tuning out the noise of this world.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What is something “worldly” that you struggle with wanting more of?
What quality of God do you most desire more of?
How can you lean in today to receive more of what God has to offer you?
How can you create and activate a peace-pathway in your brain today?