How much of God do you really want?

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

The 19th century Scottish pastor and writer Alexander MacLaren once wrote: ‘We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor?”

MacLaren’s words are not Scripture, so I don’t want to treat what he is saying as infallible. I believe that as long as we are living in this world, there will always be a limit to how much of God we can truly know. Nevertheless, when you consider the promises of passages such as 2 Peter 1:3 – “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” – and Matthew 7:7 - “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” and John 14:12 – “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” – you can’t help but be convicted that the heart of MacLaren’s argument is accurate. The Bible tells us that God’s presence and power are ours if we want it. But the question remains: do we really want it?

“Yes,” I’m sure you say. “Of course I want more of God’s presence and power.”  But consider the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-24. He was sure that he wanted to be in God’s kingdom and expressed to Jesus his willingness to follow any of God’s commands. But when Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor and to come follow him, we are told that “he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:22). Yes, he wanted to be in the kingdom of God. But Jesus opened his eyes to the reality that he actually wanted his wealth more than he wanted God. He wanted God – but only so much.

There is a reason we only have so much of God’s presence and power in our lives, and it isn’t because God is not generous and desiring to share with us. It is because our heart and actions show that we only want so much of Him. God promises that when we seek Him in fasting, He will reward us (Matthew 6:18) and respond, often with guidance, healing or breakthrough (Isaiah 58:6-11). And yet when was the last time you fasted? God promises wisdom to those who seek Him diligently – “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7). But how much are you truly willing to sacrifice of your time and energy in order to seek the Lord for that wisdom? And Paul gives us a picture of what it looks like to seek the Lord in Philippians 3:13–14 – “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” But how many of us go after God with that kind of single-mindedness?

Please hear my heart in these words. This is not meant as some sort of guilt-inducing “If you’re not experiencing healing and breakthrough in every area of your life, it’s your own fault for not having enough faith.” God’s presence and power does not always result in the material blessings and perfect health that our culture (and some corners of the church) would have us believe should accompany faith in God. After all, Jesus had all of God’s presence and power and was the suffering servant who was unjustly crucified. My heart is to challenge you to recognize that there is significantly more of God’s presence and power available to you than you are currently experiencing. But the question remains: do you really want it, especially if it will involve sacrifice on your part? Please believe that there is nothing you can give up in this world that He won’t replace with something better – more of His presence and power in your life.

Take this exhortation to heart, bearing in mind the words that Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 16:24-26: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”