Tag Archives: wanting more

Would you like MORE?

Charles Dickens’ Oliver, still hungry after his meager portion of cruel, boldly approaches the workhouse master and asks, “Please sir, could I have more?” In a world where the majority of people face a similar situation every day, even those of us with full bellies still ask for more. More bang for the buck, more miles per gallon, more value added features, more happiness, more fulfillment, more time! Even when we simplify our lives and focus our energies and discover that “less is more,” it’s still “more” we’re after. More peace, more balance, more of everything good.

But what happens when you actually get more of what you’re seeking? Does it lead to more contentment and satisfaction? Or does getting more make us want even more yet? Many of our appetites for things like food, fitness, and life festivities leave us saying, “That was great! Let’s do it again!” Whether we are “addicted” to something good or something bad, our appetites easily become satiated and yet left wanting more.

Consider facing a terminal illness or any other situation that leaves you pleading for “a second chance.” If your life circumstance was redeemed and restored, how would you respond? We’ve heard “there are no atheists in foxholes,” and we know that many desperate “negotiations” are made in desperate times. “If only you do this, I’ll certainly do that.” But would we follow through? If faced with a month to live, you were granted many more months or even years, would it forever change the way you spend your remaining time? Or would you continue to fritter it away on meaningless activities? If the court gavel came down with the verdict of guilty, and yet someone stepped in and paid the price for your wrongdoing, would it change the way you lived your life each day after?

That’s the picture of God’s gift of grace. He gives us life with so many second chances. He gave his Son to not only pay the price for our rebellious ways but also to provide an inheritance into his kingdom. And more yet, he gave us his very Spirit to guide, comfort, strengthen, and teach us everything we need.

Whether you have good reason to believe your days are very short or whether you think you have many years left, why not live each and every day with a thankful and generous spirit as if you were miraculously redeemed? If you’re sure you’d rejoice if the darkness of your worries were wiped away tomorrow, why not let the light of that hope shine brightly in the midst of your pain today?

Today is called the present because it is a gift. Look for and celebrate the goodness that remains in your life today and share it with others. I think you’ll find more of everything you really wanted.

May I please have…more?

 

In the movie version of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, young Oliver finds himself enslaved in a London workhouse with little to eat. He approaches the workhouse supervisor and says, “Please sir, may I have…more?”

 

Who could fault the nearly starving young boy, new to his oppressive surroundings, and wanting more?

 

Switch scenes to a young country girl who moved to the city to find new adventure: “I’ve always wanted…more.” Her friend twinkled his eyes and responds, “It’s a wonderful feeling . . . more!”

 

We all want more. Adam and Eve had it all. Yet they wanted more. The Israelites were hungry in the desert but when God gave them more food than they could eat, but they wanted more. I remember in the opening to one wage negotiation the question was posed, “What do you want?” The answer was simply stated: “We want MORE.”

 

We want more money, more clothes, more food, more service, more house, more possessions, more friends, more protection, more privacy, more consideration, more respect, more love, and in the end, everyone wants – more time.

 

What do you want more of? It’s okay to say it. God already knows the desires of your heart and mine. In fact, He knows us better than we know ourselves. . . not only WHAT we want but also WHY we want it. He knows if we just had ‘this’ or more of ‘that’ we’d THINK we’d be happy.

 

There is no contentment to be found in wanting more when you have nothing. But there also is no contentment in having our needs met and still wanting more. The thirst for ‘more’ is insatiable.

 

So how do we find the secret of contentment? A friend reminded me recently, it is not so much ‘found’ but ‘learned.’ Paul writes, “I have learned the secret of being content.”

 

Contentment comes from:
Learning to give thanks for what we have: It is a daily practice, repeated over and over until it becomes habit and the habit becomes ingrained in our character.

 

Learning that our treasures and troubles are temporary: We think we have all the time in the world to build and acquire and accomplish. And we think our troubles will weigh on forever. But all we really have is today.

 

Learning to decide what to do with the time we have: The great line from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings sums it well: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world…besides the will of evil.”

 

Those ‘other forces’ are the forces of God’s power and goodness speaking great satisfaction to our hearts. There is one thing, that the more you have of it, the more content you will be. Having more of God and Him having more of you.

 

Go ahead and quench your thirst with more of Him! It begins by shutting down the busyness of your activities and stepping into His presence.