“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4 NIV)
I grew up Catholic and Methodist. Most people can’t say that. My mother was an ordained minister and my father was a staunch Catholic. As a result of their unlikely coupling, I spent most of my childhood trekking back and forth between mass and service, catechism and sunday school. There was a season where I saw this as a burden, mostly because it caused a lot of initial confusion about who God was and how one connected with Him. But now, decades later, I see how the Lord used my upbringing to craft me into a bridge-builder; an AG minister who can appreciate the faith background of any Bible-believer. I can sit in any Christian service and see Christ clearly. I can worship Him through call and response, I can be moved by stained-glass windows and four-part harmonious hymns. I feel His presence in a dark sanctuary with worship band blaring just as deeply as when I bend over a an altar rail to receive the bread and juice.
I suppose it is because of this muddied background, though, that I learned to label my desires and bury them as ‘bad.’ My journey into “Restoration Year” with John Eldredge is challenging this thinking. He proposes that our desires, at least at the root, have Kingdom purpose in them. He asks that instead of denying the existence of our desires altogether, we bring them to the Father and let Him sort them out. We ask Him to show us how they fit into our story for His glory. He writes “Desire, both the whispers and the shouts, is the map you’ve been given to find the only life worth living.”
Of course, desire unchecked is concerning, even self-destructive. Desire un-submitted to God will take us to some pretty dark places. David and Bathsheba painted that picture pretty clearly. Human desire can certainly lead us far off the path and into a future far from God’s purposes. But, desire brought to the Father and examined under the light of heaven can often be re-integrated into our daily life and capitalized on for Kingdom benefit.
Today John asks, what do you desire most? Do you listen to those desires? Do you let them lead you? Do you submit them to the Almighty for His feedback?
I hope you’ll take a few moments to consider these questions. I found my own answers to be comforting, not frightening.
I desire a life of beauty. I look for it everywhere I go. My eyes are drawn to sunrises and sunsets, flowers and birds and butterflies. I love discovering and documenting the details that our Father has carefully designed with delight in mind. I love making my home a lovely haven, a place to come and rest and connect and feel treasured.
I desire a life of creativity. I see creativity in action all around me and I long to participate. I love to craft and paint and draw and write. All these habits bring me joy and enhance my life, as well as help me understand and appreciate the world around me.
I desire a life of learning and teaching. Open books and internet search engines intrigue me. I love acquiring new information and sharing it with others. I get such a thrill out of making connections and leading others into those same conclusions.
I desire deep relationship. For me, this relationship begins with God and propagates across my life from there. I will fight for relationship; for inception, maturation and restoration. I believe life apart from relationship is empty and meaningless.
What about you, dear reader? What do you desire? What have you done with that desire?