pool table

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I Desire To Do What I Can’t Do

There is something about not being able to do something that creates a desire for doing it.

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… I don’t mean a fanciful thing like seeing someone perform a neurosurgical procedure, or climbing Mount Everest – not that you couldn’t do those things, but they would require more than just a desire to make them happen.

I’m talking about seeing something that is perfectly in your grasp or power to do but you are prevented from doing it because of a commitment to do something else.

Today I went down into our family room and as I passed by the pool table it seemed more luring than normal. Maybe it was the way the light was hitting it. The lonely cue ball resting on the green cloth seemed to be inviting me, calling me, “Come and play”.

I took a longer look at the table than normal. My gaze lasted until I sat down. And in my mind I had a little conversation with myself on whether I should play a fast game or not.

I sat down on the couch and I didn’t play pool … but the urge was there. I wanted to but I really couldn’t because I was committed to doing something else.

I thought about it and realized that I didn’t really want to play pool as much as I didn’t want to do what I was committed to doing.

You see, that pool table has sat in the same spot for over ten years – It’s not the kind of pool table you move around. I pass by it every day. Every time I walk into our family room, it’s there to greet me.

But it doesn’t lure me in every time I see it. I don’t play pool nearly as often as I probably should. I ignore it more than I play it.

But sometimes when there is something I must do, but don’t feel like doing, that’s when the desire to play pool is at its highest.

I don’t know if you can relate or not but this phenomenon doesn’t just happen to me with my pool table. It happens with other things as well.

It’s that principle of longing for something you can’t have. It’s a temptation to shirk your responsibility, or put off what you don’t want to do.

I read a phrase in the Bible that is sort of like this principle. In Deuteronomy 28:67 it says, “In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening, ‘If only it were morning!’…”

Now the circumstances involving that verse deal with disobedience to God, but the idea of wishing for something you can’t have – because you don’t like what you are facing – is the same.

I didn’t give in to the lure of the pool table. I sat down on the couch and did what I was committed to do … write this blog post.

Here’s the thing: There will be times when something else will look more attractive than keeping your commitment to meet with God. It’s that principle of not wanting to do something you’re committed to. Don’t give in to the temptation because it will only become harder to resist the next time. Stick to meeting with God and see afterwards how luring that other thing really is. I’ll bet you pass by that pool table without a thought!

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What seeks to lure you away from your time with God? Leave your comment below.

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The “I Want It” Principle

There’s something about not being able to do something that makes you long to do it more.  This is a true principle that we all live with.

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You see it clearly in the play of young children. A child plays contently until he sees the toy in another child’s hand. Then suddenly, that’s all he wants.

Children don’t have patience, and they can’t control their emotions like adults can, so they grab for what they can’t have, or get upset and have a tantrum.

We’ve all seen this. It’s predicable and amazing every time.

But just because we grow up and are able to control ourselves, doesn’t mean that this principle is not active or true for us who are mature and have lived on this earth for many years.

We are just able to process the situation, control our emotions and know when to give up on something. We have some common sense that drives us which young children don’t have.

This principle, which I call the “I want it” principle, was revealed in me today, probably because of the season.

It happens every year for me, at the time of year that our house gets decorated for Christmas. The artificial trees get hauled out of storage; the boxes of decorations begin to be uncrated.

At this time of year – every year – I have a strong desire to play pool. That’s kind of a strange urge, isn’t it?

Well, it’s not that strange when you realize that when all the Christmas boxes are brought out of their off-season hibernation, they are strewn around my pool table.

And the worse thing of all is my wife uses the top of my pool table as a flat surface to place all the tree ornaments on!

Now the table hasn’t moved in the ten years we’ve had it, and I do play pool from time to time during the year, but my urge to play is never greater than at this time of year when it is unavailable.

The urge continues over the Christmas season because we have a Christmas tree that stands about three feet from the table, making shots from that end very difficult to make.

Now in case you are wondering, no, I don’t scream or yell. I don’t get on my back and shout, flinging my limbs around at the same time.

I say nothing. I do nothing other than longingly look at my precious pool table and wish I could play a few games.

And unlike a child who you can easily distract by saying, “LOOK OVER THERE!”, to completely get their mind off the “I want it” principle, grownups aren’t as easily distracted.

Hey look, my wife is saying she just made breakfast for me . . . Now what was I talking about?

Here’s the thing: This “I want it” principle can get us confused when we pray. When we pray, we should be praying for God’s will. However, with the ‘I want it” principle in effect, we tend to believe that what we want right now is God’s will for us. Then if God doesn’t give it to us quickly, we question His ability, or care, or knowledge of us. But what we really need to do when the “I want it” principle invades our prayer life is find a distraction so that we can get our minds off the “I want it” and on to seeking God’s will.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you asked God for that turned out to be an “I want it” request? Leave your comment below.