By: LANDRA YOUNG HUGHES, as posted on Encouragement for Today daily devotional

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1 (NIV)

Let’s talk about reality TV.

OK, I know it might not be the best way to spend our time, and it definitely doesn’t look much like my real life as a mom of little ones in a decidedly tropical-island-free Texas suburb. No matter where you stand on reality TV, I think a lot of us may agree on one point — a lot of shows just are not what they used to be. The happy ending isn’t there anymore. It’s all about the drama now — the twist, the shocker, the cliff-hanger. But it’s all so painfully staged and scripted. Obviously, I’m still going to watch because I want to know what happens. But I also want my favorite show to go back to the way it was before — when it was authentic. But chances are, that’s not going to happen. Isn’t that how we’re wired as humans? To want what we want.

These impulses don’t greatly affect our lives when it comes to the shows we binge, but what about when we want something with higher stakes? Our reactions to not getting what we want in high-stakes scenarios are a lot different than when our favorite show shifts plotlines. In fact, we’re driven by our want-to's. You might say, “I spend my entire day doing stuff I don’t want to do.” And on the surface, that might be true. But if you look deeper, you’ll see that your don’t-want-tos get overridden by a less obvious but more pressing want-to.

Let me give you some examples:

You don’t want to work out, but you want to be in shape. So you work out.

You don’t want to drop your kids off at day care, but you want to be able to work your job and pay your bills. So you drop them off.

You don’t want to destroy the tradition of a long-standing TV show that many people are emotionally invested in, but you want to make money. So you destroy it with artificial drama.

See? Our want-tos are a powerful driving force in our lives. But what happens when our want-tos are broken? We know it’s possible. Even Paul said, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19, NIV).

To keep our want-tos in line with God’s, there must be intentionality in how much power we give to our own desires. Our biggest want-to — the one that overrides all others — has to be finding peace with His want-to. And that takes surrender. What does it look like to surrender? To surrender is to lay down what is most precious to you — your heart’s desire — and say to God, “It’s Yours. If You give it back to me, I will praise You. If You don’t give it back to me, I will still praise You.” After all, we are living sacrifices, and offering our want-tos and our very selves to God is true worship: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). I have felt so confident on the paths my want‑tos have led me down. I’ve even felt “called” to places by my want-tos, only to find my way cut short by immovable obstacles. But could it be that our momentary disappointment and discomfort in the face of an unfulfilled desire is, in fact, a small inconvenience compared to the danger ahead, which we can’t see, that we'd face if that want‑to were fulfilled?

Let me say this: God is comfortable with our disappointment. In fact, He wants us to talk to Him about it. He wants to become our biggest want-to, and there are no lengths He won’t go to in order to draw us closer to Him.

God, thank You for loving me enough not to give me all of my want‑tos. I trade in my will for Yours, knowing that Your plan is always better. I pray that I would be patient, constant and obedient to Your voice alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.