When I was a child, my parents would let me "play" in the toy section of WalMart while they shopped around for the groceries. Before they left me, they would always say "Remember, we aren't buying you any more barbies. You don't need anymore." I would roll my eyes and say that I understood. Afterall, I already had all the barbies I needed. I was content to just look around. Without fail, however, I would always come across a new barbie that could "do" more than the ones I had at home. I suddenly had to have it. I would latch onto it and race through the store to find my parents. I'd beg them for it with my bottom lip poked out, and would start crying as soon as they told me I didn't need it. I was perfectly happy without that Barbie before I noticed it. I had everything I needed and didn't know what I was missing. Once I laid eyes on it, though, I couldn't forget about it. My desire was so great that I couldn't imagine being content without it anymore. This story may seem pointless, but it's the way a lot of us go through life. God gives us the things that we need in order to progress from day to day. Each time he gives us something, we thank him for it and assume that we are finally content. We wake up the next morning, however, desiring something more. Desire is tricky. It causes us to take our eyes off of the things that surround us and place them on something out of our reach. When we do this, we lose ourselves and throw our lives off track. To desire something (other than God) so much that we can't imagine life without it is one of the greatest risks you can take. Obtaining that object would only provide contentment for a little while (at least until you set your eyes on something better), and failing to obtain it would cause devastation, hopelessness, and the notion that your life is missing something. Neither one of these scenarios is good. I'm not saying that if you have your mind set on a goal you shouldn't try to achieve it; I'm saying that you shouldn't become so overwhelmed by your desires that you allow them to take over. This is where the trust in God comes in that I was talking about in the last entry. You have to trust that God will provide you with everything you need at the moment you need it. If you don't have it, you don't need it. If God wants you to have it, you will. Things are the way they are for a reason. Every time we get disappointed, every time we don't get what we want, we need to put our trust in God and focus on everything that we have already obtained through God's blessings.