You Asked for It

Toyota!In the 1970’s Toyota’s advertising slogan was “You asked for it.  You got it.  Toyota!”It became a famous phrase.  I’m sure it helped sell Toyotas.  But it became more famous as a catchphrase for anyone who insisted, against advice and conventional wisdom, on what they wanted, on doing it their way.  When things didn’t turn out, all that was said was, “Toyota!”  (See ad here.)I’m sure friends and coworkers have said “Toyota” about some of my decisions—and yours!So has God.Look at this amazing Toyota verse:  “And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106:15)How many times have we begged God for what we want, to do it our way.  Fortunately most of the time He says, ‘No, I have a better idea!”  Sometimes, though, He gives us what we ask for.  But it comes at a high price:  leanness in our souls.  Dryness, emptiness, poverty, weakness—an emaciated spirit life.God could easily say to us at such times, “You asked for it.  You got it!  Toyota!”But He doesn’t gloat or reprimand.  Yes, He will send the leanness.  But it is wrapped in amazing grace.  Grace to protect us.  To woo us back to His way.  To give renewed strength and vitality as we learn and grow from the famine we have brought on ourselves.I’m so grateful for that grace, that redemption of my stubbornness.  But my prayer is that I consistently say, even after telling the Lord my ideas and desires, “Not my way, but Yours, Lord.”c2010 Judy Douglass