ARTICLES OF ENCOURAGEMENT: WHEN YOU'RE DESPERATELY SEEKING SOMETHING

What do you desire that you believe God has with held from you?

More than 100 women of all ages and walks of life have answered for me that question. And their answers tell me what we, as women, are desperate for:

I'm still waiting to find the man of my dreams
My greatest desire is to have a baby
I am desperate to have a more intimate connection with my husband
I want to experience the joy of being "equally yoked" with a godly husband
My greatest desire is to have family unity and peace in my home
I want God to open the doors of ministry and reveal to me what I was called to do

As you look through that list, maybe you'll find one or two that you, too, are desperate for. They are all good things... But are any of them enough?

The Dangerous Road to Desperation

The Bible tells us of a woman named Rachel who longed to have a child. Nothing wrong with that. But she wanted that baby so badly that it fractured her relationship with her sister, created divisions between herself and her husband, caused her to compromise her morals, and ultimately cost her life. Her story, in Genesis 29-30, warns us of what can happen to us when we want something so badly that it becomes an obsession. Rachel took some dangerous steps down the road of desperation that we need to be aware of so we don't take them as well.

She Resented Her Circumstances and Responded in an Ungodly Way

Do you find yourself becoming resentful that God is withholding something from you? And does that resentment increase when someone else receives what you were hoping for? When Rachel saw her sister, Leah, bearing children but realized she couldn't have any, we don't read that she took it to God in prayer. Instead, she became jealous of her sister and lashed out at her husband. If God is withholding something in your life, there is a reason...and a good one at that. It's about trust. And often it's about timing. Thus, Rachel's next step of desperation came about because she was unwilling to accept God's timing.

She Rejected God's Timing and Forged Ahead with Her Own Plans

We live in a day and age in which it's possible to go after what we want and get it. But is it God's best for us? And is it according to His perfect timing? Internet dating sites, fertility treatments, liposuction, plastic surgery - the options abound. Rachel wanted something she didn't have and she was determined to get it, regardless of the Lord's plans and will for her life. So she resorted to downright desperate means - she gave her maid to her husband to get a child through her! After getting two children that way it still wasn't enough for her, so she resorted to a cultural superstition believed during her day to bring about conception. With no fertility clinics around, Rachel took the next best step and tried to conceive a child through the use of some bitter herbs. But her attempts at conceiving a child were again futile. While God may work within the means of medical techniques, internet dating sites or other technologically advanced options, it's imperative for us to bathe our situation (and desperation) in prayer so we're convinced our action is a result of His leading, not our forging ahead.

Rachel's last mistake is shocking.

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