We Don't Always Get What We Want

Psalm 119:154 – Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise. (NIV)

I couldn't let the season pass without telling of the tomatoes in my garden this year. I didn't have time to go to the regular nursery for my plants, so I picked them up at the local grocery store, which had a garden centre. The usual brand was not there and I elected to take what they had — beefsteak tomatoes. Beefsteak tomatoes are huge; one slice covers the toast for a toasted tomato sandwich.

We don't always get what we want. To make a long story short, someone, either by mistake or by mischief, had the wrong label on the tomato plants. By the time the fruit was formed, it was too late to replant and I had to put up with what I had — plum tomatoes — smaller, though fleshy tomatoes, and chiefly used to make tomato sauce. What a disappointment — no toasted tomato sandwiches! Yet I had no choice but to accept what the garden produced.

How often in life do we receive things not by our choosing? When God moves in our lives, it is not always in the way we think things should be. God knows what is best and He plants seeds as He sees fit. He alone has the ability to create something out of nothing.

What choice do I have for the tomatoes? I could pick the fruit, mix it with other things, cook and preserve for another time!

Isn't that what God does with us, though we sometimes think it is a poor choice? Does He not stir up our lives to restore and preserve us for later? Though my tomatoes were not good for eating fresh, I was able to preserve them for later. Likewise, God perhaps wants to use us in a different way or at a different time.

Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (NIV)

Prayer: Everlasting and eternal God, though we know not Your plan for us in this life, we surrender all to You. Preserve us and use us in a way that is more pleasing to You. Help us to accept life as it is and not as we plan. May we walk in Your grace according to Your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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