Getting What You Want

I was ten years old in September of 1967, watching one of my favorite television shows when I heard a statement of such profound wisdom that it has stayed with me all these years. I find its truth reaffirmed on a daily basis. One could argue that nothing wiser has ever been spoken by a television character – if one was so inclined to look for wisdom in sitcoms and adventure shows. This unforgettable moment occurred on Star Trek.

Due to his struggle with the Vulcan mating impulses, known as pon farr, Commander Spock beamed down to Vulcan to marry his betrothed wife, T’pring. She stopped the ceremony to name a challenger to fight Spock for her, which was her ritualistic right. Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy were watching from the side, close to a Vulcan named Stonn (T’pring’s weasely boyfriend). Rather than choosing Stonn as her champion to fight Spock, T’pring chose Captain Kirk. This insured that whoever won the fight, she would still end up with Stonn, because neither Kirk nor Spock would want her. Kirk accepted the challenge, not knowing that it was to be a fight to the death. After a few minutes of fighting, Kirk was so weak because of the low oxygen atmosphere, that McCoy gave him an injection of what he said was as “tri-oxygen” compound to assist his breathing, but it was really a “neuralizer” to simulate death. The ruse works, and McCoy beamed up to the Enterprise with Kirk’s “lifeless” body. Spock walked over to T’pring who was standing next to Stonn. He congratulated T’pring on her flawless logic, but warned Stonn, “Stonn, she is yours. After a time you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.”

Without realizing it, Spock exposed the dynamic of the cycle of lust and sin. Since the Garden of Eden, we have been craving things that will not satisfy us, regardless of how convinced we are that they will. Satan is a master of convincing us of which things to pursue. Solomon wrote, “the full soul loathes the honeycomb, but to the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet”, implying that our misaligned desires will lead us to consume unsatisfying things. James wrote that we are drawn away by our own lust, which brings forth sin, and then sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.

Death?! That is definitely “not so pleasing a thing after all”! The Lord Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?” Spock’s words echo the words of Solomon, James and Jesus. Once we get what we want, the odds are that we will not be satisfied.

There is one exception – our desire for eternal life. In our most poignant thoughts about Heaven, we cannot begin to understand how good it will be. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” So, for the believer, experiencing our home in Heaven will be a far more pleasing thing than wanting it! This knowledge was such a great comfort to Paul that he also wrote, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

When Satan dangles something in front of us we can be confident that it is a façade that will not deliver the satisfaction it promises. When the Lord admonishes us to wait for what He has for us, we can be confident that it will surpass all of our expectations and that it will prove to be well worth the wait.