I've heard two sermons from different preachers in the last couple of weeks that emphasized the same theme: "don't become a head case when God gives you a victory." The point is a good one -- we often cry out in desperation for breakthrough in some area of life, and then when God gives it, we take His response as an endorsement of everything we do and everything we say, as though the answer to prayer validated everything about us. The result is a lot of pride, which causes us to lose the very thing that God responded to in the first place: our desperation and dependence. It's no wonder God waits so long to give us what we ask for sometimes. We have a hard time handling victory.

Desperation and dependence are good attitudes to have. They qualify us to receive things from God that we wouldn't otherwise receive. The trick is to keep those attitudes when everything is going great -- when God is answering prayer and blessing us with our heart's desires. We need to remember our desperation after God comes through for us, not just before He does. It keeps us in position to continue to hear and receive from Him.