Recent Reflections

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and praying lately about the place of desire in our lives. More than anything else in my redeemed (circumcised) heart, this area seems to get me into trouble, for I mishandle my desire.

I have tried to ignore my them, pretending they aren’t there, and find myself frustrated. I’ve tried to kill my desires, and find myself feeling dead inside. I’ve tried to get what I desire in my own power, through effort and grasping, and find myself empty and wanting more. Why, I ask, do I have to desire anything? Why can’t just the present moment be enough?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and praying lately about the place of desire in our lives. More than anything else in my redeemed (circumcised) heart, this area seems to get me into trouble, for I mishandle my desires. I have tried to ignore my them, pretending they aren’t there, and find myself frustrated. I’ve tried to kill my desires, and find myself feeling dead inside. I’ve tried to get what I desire in my own power, through effort and grasping, and find myself empty and wanting more. Why, I ask, do I have to desire anything? Why can’t just the present moment be enough?

In Scripture, God promises to give us “the desires of our hearts” (Ps. 37:4) yet so often I get into trouble when I set out to pursue what I think I desire. My grasping for what I want still leaves me frustrated, wondering why now that I have “made it happen,” I still feel so empty.

We have a choice in how we face our desires—will we try to make them happen, orchestrate our lives around them, or surrender them to our Father? After all, the purpose of my life is not to pursue what I want, but to follow Him, serving Him, and bringing glory to His name. So why do I have to desire anything but Him? Is the very fact that still have desires sinful?

As I've studied this issue, I've come to believe that our desires are not wrong—they come from the deepest parts of our heart. The problem is, we see them clouded by our flesh, so we often don’t interpret them correctly. Our appetites (flesh) contaminate the Godly desires He created in us. We don’t interpret our desires correctly, and therefore often get into trouble when we pursue them on our own, trying to make them happen. We may be able to get what we think we desire through our own efforts, only to find ourselves just as wanting as we were in the first place.

When we take theses same desires to God to interpret for us, and surrender them to Him, He can then meet our authentic, legitimate desires, for it was He Who put theses desires in our heart in the first place. He alone knows the real desire of our heart, so He alone can meet them.

“Trust in the Lord and do what is right; make your home in the land [by turning from evil and doing good—cf. v.27] and live secure. Make Yahweh your joy, and He will give you the desires of your heart!”—Ps. 37: 3 & 4




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