Most people think of God only when they are in trouble, especially the kind of trouble they can’t solve on their own. They hope he will bail them out.

For such people, their own life at the material level is the central concern; God is invited into their life only if he is ready to act as a competent and prompt problem-solver.

While many would consider such an attitude natural, Gita wisdom considers it less-than-desirable, for it tragically underutilizes the potential of our relationship with God.

The Gita reveals a vision of God far loftier and richer than the conception of a trouble-remover – God as the ultimate lover, as the supremely loving and lovable person Krishna. In his own eternal world of love, Krishna performs pastimes with his devotees, flooding everyone with ecstatic waves of love. It is to this world that we belong. And it is for this world that our hearts forever long.

Unfortunately,we don’t recognize this deepest longing of our heart, because external concerns dominate our thoughts. We are all souls with an innate attraction for Krishna. But due to bodily misidentification and material attachments, we have made worldly things our primary, if not solitary, concerns.

Even now, Krishna loves us so much that, as the Gita (07.18) indicates, he appreciates us when we bring him into our life, for any reason whatsoever. Additionally, the same verse exalts those people who do not reduce Krishna to a means towards some worldly goal, but are wise enough to recognize him as their ultimate goal.

By making Krishna our greatest object of love and not making our relationship with him conditional to whether he solves our problems here, we let him bring us into his life for eternal love and everlasting happiness.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 07 Text 18

“All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me I consider to be just like My own self. Being engaged in My transcendental service, he is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal.”