Do I Want What God Wants?

When a man brought his ailing son to Jesus for healing because the Disciples couldn’t heal him, Jesus said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17.17) After Jesus healed the son, He then turned His attention to His Disciples who asked why they couldn’t heal the son. Jesus said, “Because of your unbelief.” (Matthew 17.20)

Many of us would hear these words as scolding because we are not accustomed to hearing Jesus call His Disciples unbelievers. They were following Him from town to town through deserts and wilderness. One would seriously doubt Jesus thought they were faithless. So what really is Jesus trying to tell us today in this Gospel passage?

Most of us like to think we are believers and followers of Jesus Christ, but when we are challenged by something not going as we would prefer, we question why we didn’t get what we wanted. This reflects our selfish desires rather than our faith in God. For many of us, so long as God wants what we want, we are willing to believe Him. But when He wants something we don’t want, instead of changing our desires, we question Him, “Why?”

Any parent has heard this question a thousand times so we can appreciate what God must be going through when He says, “How long am I to be with you?” But unlike us, God remains patient and calm, and sometimes stern, as He continues to teach us to desire what He desires.

Something to think about this week…. “Do I want what God wants?” If not, who should change?