What God Really Wants for You

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

It’s audio devo day! Enjoy it right here, including a time of ministry. Daddy God wants to pour His tender revelation into your heart in these moments:

(Subscribe to my Feeding on Jesus podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher for more audio devotionals like these!)

praying-in-the-light

“There shall be no more pain…” (Rev. 21:4, NKJV).

In the thick of a painful season of my life, Holy Spirit whispered to my heart with exquisite tenderness, “I didn’t want this for you.” With His next breath, He added, “What I wanted for you was Eden.”

In that one moment, a flood of revelation inundated my spirit. My heart found center. Looming, overshadowing questions settled beautifully into serenity. The shift inside of me was very similar to the one Asaph describes in Psalm 73. I know you will find this passage strengthening for your own life. So let’s take a look together at this psalmist’s ‘before,’ his ‘after’… and what happened in between:

His ‘before’: Asaph was overwhelmed with confusion. (Have you been there?) “When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me… My heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind” (Ps. 73:16, 21, NKJV).

His ‘defining moment’: Asaph had an encounter with God that changed everything. (Does your soul cry out for this?) “I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood…” (v. 17, emphasis mine).

His ‘after’: Asaph burst into exultant worship. (What else can we do when Daddy God comes through for us so beautifully?) “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (vv. 25-26).

These three stages sum it up precisely. What Asaph experienced is what the Father is holding out to us. He wants to lavish those life-changing, defining moments on you and me as well.

As I was sharing with you, this Psalm paints a picture akin to what happened to me in the midst of my own soul’s turbulence. My heart was grieved. I could not comprehend why God would allow me to undergo so much suffering. My mind was vexed. My attempts to reconcile my circumstances with His goodness were confounding me.

And then I had an encounter with Him. And then, just like my brother Asaph, I understood. In my heart of hearts, I grasped this transformational truth. All this pain was not what He wanted for you and me. What He wanted for us was Paradise.

Eden reveals to us everything that was in His beautiful heart for humankind from the very beginning. The celestial oasis we long for – with no pain, no tears, no bereavement, no heartrending goodbyes – was already here, on the earth. That’s how He set it up for us. That’s what He achingly longed… and still longs… for us to have.

But we chose sin. As a result, death came. Hardship and suffering became part of our earthly sojourn, but they do not reflect His design for us.

However, I hear someone reminding me, He has redeemed our destruction. You are right. Yes, He has. And yes, He accompanies us intimately through the valley of the shadow of death. Yes, He weeps with every stabbing cry of our hearts. Yes, He took ownership of our soul’s indescribable devastation. Yes, He became one with our anguish. Yes, He surrendered His entire being to its engulfing, agonizing, screaming torture, on the cross. Yes, He understands, better than we will ever know.

Yes, He releases to us now what He purchased with His own punishment. Yes, He unceasingly comforts us, strengthens us, rescues us, and heals us. Yes, He unceasingly works His Romans 8:28 miracles, masterfully turning everything meant to destroy us into immeasurable blessing.

Yes. All of that. He made magnificent, mind-boggling provision for our pain…

But He doesn’t want us to forget…

He never wanted us to have it in the first place.

To really know Jesus’ heart, you have to understand this. He did not have affliction and grief in mind when He was dreaming of you for all of eternity past. What He really yearns to give you… unspeakably so… is still Paradise.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4, NKJV).

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Have you had an “Asaph moment,” so to speak, where getting into the presence of God brought the peace and clarity and perspective you needed?

29 thoughts on “What God Really Wants for You”

  3. Whoa this was remarkable as usual Pata. I’m very fortunate to have read about your experience, many times I have felt like this too, where you become very unsure and wonder what to do and why it’s happening, but the most important thing that has never failed, is to never give up; there is nothing that we face in the culture of humanity that is ever insurmountable or invincible.

    The good-will of GOD, if we let reflect on our souls, can make us into miraculous healers just as Jesus also was through GOD. We can heal physically, and even more robustly we can heal and recover from misfortunes and mishaps using our mental gift of intuitive resolve in how we approach and deal with matters. Many times it’s more about how you see and deal with what you are faced with, and not what the matter is that’s presented.

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      1. Wow YES YES YES Pata, amen! 🔥👼🙏. If we are both physically and psychologically blind to things, we often miss the point. Being able to actually see things from the perspective of GOD is a very huge blessing 😄😄.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. This is beautiful! Thank you for the reminder. I lost my husband 8 months ago and have struggled with the why did this have to happen. And you’re right. God didn’t want this for me or him. He wanted Eden. And He is walking through the shadow with me.

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    1. Wanda, I am so deeply sorry for your loss. I was just talking to another dear sister about how Daddy God never, ever intended for us to have to deal with the searing loss and separation of death. We weren’t created for it. It hurts so deeply. I’m praying for you right now, that He would minister His comfort and healing so deeply to the core of you. He loves you so immensely much!

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      1. haha you’re welcome pata.

        I look forward to continuously walking along side you, and being both soulfully nourished and righteously stimulated by your excellent thoughts and wisdom 👌😂

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    1. Aaaaamen to that, David. You are the beloved of the Lord! That comes to mind because David is my son’s name, and I was just meditating on the meaning this past week. Thank you so much for adding value here!

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