Desire
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Do you ever have a craving for something?
- something sweet
- something salty
- coffee
- etc
When we have a craving, a desire for something, it drives us. We won’t be satisfied until we get what we want.
If it’s something sweet: rich dark chocolate. something salty: pretzels…perhaps covered in rich dark chocolate. or for that caffeine craving: a steaming cup of freshly brewed bold dark coffee.
What you desire, drives you. It determines what you pursue, the path you take.
Not only do we crave things like food, but our soul’s have a craving as well.
We have been created with a deep longing, a desire that drives us, a hunger that growls at us to be fed.
God has put inside of each one of a craving that will ultimately only be satisfied when we come to Him.
Much of our life is spent in pursuit of that which we believe will satisfy the deep longing in our soul.
The question is:
Our soul longs for “flowing streams of water” to quench its thirst.
There is only one thing that will satisfy us, but we often end up pursuing many things instead.
Like the recent movie, Pursuit of Happiness, we often run hard after things like careers, material possessions, relationships, etc. Things that we believe will satisfy our longing.
But that deep desire can only be satisfied by one thing – a life giving, active relationship with God that is at the center of our whole life.
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
The desire within us has been placed there by God in order to draw us to Him (John 6:44). This is our destiny, to be in this relationship is what we have been created for.
This is what Augustine meant by his famous phrase, “You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
We Are Too Easily Pleased
Why then, do we as human beings so often chase after other things?
Our problem is that we are often “far too easily pleased.” (C.S. Lewis)
If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far to easily pleased.
We settle for a weak imitation of the flowing stream of God’s presence- a mirage in the desert.
Don’t Stop Pursuing
Another problem is that we think that if we “drink from the stream” once, it’s enough.
But, we need to do more than a one time turning to God, because there is an ongoing war of desires within us. Like the Israelites in the OT, even though we experience the presence of God, we are often tempted back by imitations that only appear to satisfy.
Human experience shows us that desire can fade (or we direct our desire toward other things) if it is not fed.
In the Christian life, we must learn to continually direct the actions of our desiring and longing to God alone.
If you’ve ever been in love, than you know what I mean. It is not enough to “fall in love” for a moment. We must continue to pursue love – it is the “paradox of love” (A.W. Tozer). We find it, but still pursue it.
Desire drives us, and if we are continually desiring God than we will find our self on the path on which we have found him and are still seeking him.
“Seek and you will find” – Jesus“Taste and see that the Lord is good” – Psalm 34
When we find our soul’s satisfaction in God, we are able to fully enjoy life the way God intended us to.
Pursuing and desiring God is not just a permanent denial of things that bring us enjoyment, it is putting God as our primary desire and learning to see that he has given us all good things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).
Psalm 36:8-9They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.For with you is the fountain of life;in your light we see light.
The key is to not become like King Solomon who ended up enjoying the gifts more than he did the Giver. He sought to fulfill his soul’s desire with things other than God and found that it doesn’t work! (Ecclesiastes)
Desire – deep inside each one of us there is a longing. We may try to cover up this nagging feeling, or we may attempt to satisfy it. But, until we understand that our soul’s craving is for God, all of our attempts will fall short.
What do you want? What desire is driving your life?
- Financial stability
- Social status
- Intellectual superiority
- Material possessions
- Career success
These things are not necessarily evil in and of themselves, but they are not the “flowing stream of water” that will satisfy the deep longing of our soul.
And as long as we desire them, we will pursue them, but only to be left still thirsty.
To desire God is to desire:
- his presence in your life – as the defining presence
- his purpose for your life – as the defining purpose
- his power working through your life – as the only true power
- his glory above your own
A test to truly see what you desire: take it away.
(the practice of fasting helps us to get a clearer picture of the things we desire as we deny our self of certain things – food, possessions, entertainment, etc.)
Jesus, as he neared the point of his life being taken away, prayed to his father, “not my will, but your will be done.” and proclaimed that “it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Paul tells Timothy “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
God wants us to desire Him alone and find our joy in him. When we do, we are able to fully and truly enjoy the things that God gives. When we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desires of our hearts. It’s about pursuing God and letting the other things fall where they may.
As the Apostle Paul discovered, “whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him”
May we learn to truly say with the Psalmist:
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
-
Paul
-
Beth Herring
