I Have a Desire

We have desires, longings, thirsts, but can God meet these? What does the Bible say about desire and delight?

I have a desire.

Actually, I have multiple desires. Desires that I might not even be consciously aware of can be drivers of my behaviour.

Often when I listen to people or read emails sent to me, I often hear the desires, the longings, the thirsts.

Deeper relationships
Healing of pain
A releasing of grief
The answering of questions contained in mystery
A lifting of burdens
Prosperity (whatever that might be???)

Then, images are presented to us on social media and elsewhere that lick the lips of our desires, and off the mind goes to the fantasy of that desire fulfilled.

Linger long enough with that desire and it can soon become a goal and a demand.

A demand shouts, ‘I want it this way and in my time!’

We make a plan. A strategy is formed to meet the demand.

Do you have desires unfulfilled?

Have you noticed how desire can so easily flip over into being a demand we throw at God?

Give me this
Give me that
Fix my life
Make this person do this or that

Samson and desire

One of the deepest desires we have is the desire for intimacy. This desire can so often be presented to us as a sexual desire.

We want their beauty; we want their strength. A desire grows within us for the other.

The biblical character Samson has these desires.

Samson sees a woman, a woman he was not meant to associate with, a Philistine woman, but a desire appears.

The desire continues to grow, a goal is formed, and a demand is made.

Once Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw a Philistine woman. Then he came up, and told his father and mother, ‘I saw a Philistine woman at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.’ Judges 14:1-2

Can you feel the energy and entitlement for his desires to be met in his way and in his time?

These desires become dominant in his life. Demandedness and a rugged determination to get what he wants become an addiction.

His physical strength becomes the threat, but eventually his desires become his undoing.

Moses hits the rock

Then there is the story of Moses hitting the rock.

There was no water there for the community, so they ganged up on Moses and Aaron. They attacked Moses: “We wish we’d died when the rest of our brothers died before God. Why did you haul this congregation of God out here into this wilderness to die, people and cattle alike? And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates—and now not even any water!”

Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God.

God spoke to Moses: “Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that’s right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink.”

Moses took the staff away from God’s presence, as commanded. He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock.

Moses spoke: “Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”

With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.

God said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t trust me, didn’t treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren’t going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them.”

These were the Waters of Meribah (Bickering) where the People of Israel bickered with God, and he revealed himself as holy. Numbers 20:2-13

The plans

Their plan: The people had a desire for water; they had a goal; they made it a demand; and they formed a plan to complain to Moses about it

God’s plan: Speak to that rock that’s right in front of them and it will give water

Moses’ plan

“Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”

With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.

Moses took control. He wasn’t going to speak to a rock. So he slammed his staff into the rock. Twice. He smashed into God with violence.

The power of Moses was seen, not the power of God.

Moses did things his way. He took control. That rock, representing all of Moses’ frustrations, needed a beating.

He didn’t trust God to meet his deepest desires.

In the end, Moses and Aaron missed out on a deep heart’s desire being fulfilled. Of seeing the promised land.

The desires of the heart

I have some desires. You do too.

Deep emotional desires of the heart for intimacy, connection, worth, value, acceptance, etc

These desires can become goals.

A plan, or a way to get the desired goal, is presented to us. ‘Here is the apple, Adam and Eve.’ Genesis 3.

We take it, but in the end we find it leads to death.

There is a way that seems right to a person,
but its end is the way to death. Proverbs 14:12

We strike the rock, grab the woman, eat the apple, and demand others make us happy.

This is done and we come back with nothing or, even worse, second-rate experiences that keep us hooked on the addiction of wanting more.

We focus on ‘second place’ desires.

Put first things first and second things are thrown in. Put second things first and you lose both first and second things. C. S. Lewis

Delight in the Lord

There is something very special when you see someone who simply enjoys being in the presence of someone else.

In the book Connecting, Larry Crabb tells a story of delight.

Several years earlier, Brennan [Manning] had told me of his spiritual director’s curious habit.

Whenever he saw Brennan after an extended absence, he jumped up and down with delight.

I remember smiling. I pictured an elderly gentleman walking down a deserted beach toward an agreed upon meeting point and, spotting Brennan from a distance, hopping three or four times.

The image amused me. It also drew me.

A year later, my wife Rachel and I tumbled out of a crowded elevator into a hotel lobby teeming with conference participants.

Across the way, I caught a glimpse of Brennan’s white hair and unmistakable smile.

As I leaned toward Rachel to tell her I had just seen Brennan, he turned and saw us.

Immediately, he jumped up and down. I was warmed to the bottom of my heart. Larry Crabb, Connecting

That’s called delight.

Brennan had delight in seeing Larry. Larry had delight in seeing Brennan.

Something of the nature of God’s delight in them flowed in and around them and through them.

‘I’m so happy you’re here, in this place, at this time!’

The psalmist says this.

Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

There is an experience of delight that is seen when the prodigal son returns to the jumping up and down Father.

There is a pure enjoyment of being with the other.

In that place, the desires of the heart are met.

So what do we do with our desires?

We have these desires, these emotional longings and thirsts. But what do I do with them?

Firstly, don’t try to kill them.

Explore them. There is a reason for them being there.

What are these desires telling you about you?

Are these first place desires – knowing God, or second place desires – everything else?

How have you tried to meet those emotional longings and thirsts apart from God?

Name these desires as best you can and ask God to meet them in God’s way.

Experience the delight of God in you, much like a father seeing his wayward Samson or Moses coming home, then wait and see how the desires are met, but possibly in a different way than expected.

Perhaps you simply need someone to jump up and down when they see you coming.

One thing I desire

One thing I desire
One thing that I crave
To touch the hem of his garment
Flowing presence to save

Fold me in your shadow
Tuck me into bed
Encase me in glorious knowing
Safe eternal wed

One thing I desire
When thoughts want to take me down
When stones are picked for throwing
Stephens song heavens crown

I focus my eyes on you
Seeing in your face
Glorious rivers of movement
Unending flow of grace

This one thing I desire
This one thing I fast to know
Deep longing for more of you
Old man ways letting go

Conceal me in your shadow
Hide me in your wings
When the black gull comes to squark and take
May your assurance to me sing

Seed verse: Isaiah 49:2
The black gull is a reference to the Southern Black-backed Gull. Recently my wife and I have been watching the chicks of the endangered species New Zealand dotterel. We were told that Black backed-gulls can come and take the chicks away. We observed the parents of a fledgling chick chase a gull away from their nest.

Quotes to consider

If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
Before we can pray, “Lord, Thy Kingdom come,” we must be willing to pray, “My Kingdom go. Alan Redpath
I cannot, by direct moral effort, give myself new motives. After the first few steps in the Christian life we realise that everything which really needs to be done in our souls can be done only by God. C. S. Lewis
The capacity to desire is a capacity that has been corrupted into a self-oriented demand for satisfaction. Larry Crabb
The deepest desire of my heart is for God, because I bear his image and I’m a dependent being who draws his life from God; therefore, my deepest desire is for God, just as the deepest desire of a fish is for water. Larry Crabb
God’s friendship is a bigger comfort than that of the whole world. Martin Luther
True spirituality is not about running away from your desires it’s about going into the heart of them. Rob Bell episode 63 robcast
It’s healthy to challenge the origin of your own desires. Why is it that you want it so much? Desires can so easily become dictators. D. Riddell
Thomas Merton describes the influence of our desires in even stronger terms: “Life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.”David Benner
Desires shape not simply what we get but much more importantly, who and what we become. They shape our very being. David Benner