What do I do with this desire?

“Should I pursue more information for this, or just pray about it?”

“Am I being controlling if I pray and make a phone call?”

“Would it be better to chase down an opportunity, or let one land in my lap?”

When our hearts are set on walking the path that God has chosen for us, rather than going our own way, we wrestle sincerely between taking action and waiting in faith. If we take action toward a desire, we fear being too driven and manipulative, and if we wait, we fear being lazy and missing out. So which is better?

Matthew 7:7&8 have helped set guidelines for the wrestling match in my heart:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; 

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks receives, 

and the one who seeks finds, 

and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Asking, seeking, and knocking are all action steps we take toward a desired goal. 

Asking implies having a desire and having a question (or a lot of questions). Clearly, the question-asking begins by asking God, so we ask His Spirit for guidance and insight from His Word to address our concerns. We also ask Him to bring to mind people in our lives who have some experience and could be a source of wisdom for us. What are your questions about a desire in your heart, and who might offer wisdom about it?

Seeking isn’t an event; it happens over time. In the process of seeking, we gain little revelations along the way that either keep us going on a trajectory or provide pivots in another direction. It requires humility to seek, since what we find may be something we didn’t expect, and the cumulative discoveries may give us reasons to re-evaluate our end goal. Are you willing to surrender your desire in the process of seeking it?

Knocking implies arrival at a door, but knocking asks permission before entering rather than assuming a welcome. Knocking admits that the person on the other side of the door has the right to determine whether they open it. When an opportunity appears in front of you, what  assumptions might cause you to barge through rather than knock?

Notice that all of this exploration and forward motion still leaves us in a position of being recipients: 

In our asking, we are given to, therefore we rely on a Giver.

In our seeking, we find, therefore something pre-existing is revealed.

In our knocking, the door is opened, therefore Someone clears the way forward.

So as you pursue the desires in your heart, you can boldly ask, seek, and knock with uncompromised faith in the One who gives, reveals, and opens.

Additional scripture to consider: James 1:17, Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 3:6

Make Yourself at Home

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, 

and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23

In the past 4 years, we’ve called technicians to our home to make repairs: once, in the dead of summer when our A/C gave up, and then, in the dead of winter, when our furnace quit. In both situations, whether sweating or shivering, I was pretty desperate for the problem to be solved asap so I could get back to normal life. 

When he came, I didn’t say to the repairman, “Make yourself at home - here are the keys. Wander around, check out each room, and stay a while. The pantry is yours, the fridge is yours. If you feel like redecorating, go for it.” No. I didn’t invite him to settle in; I just needed him to work on one thing, and I pointed immediately to it. I was not trying to make him comfortable. Actually, I was expecting him to make ME more comfortable.

And I wonder how closely that parallels our relationship with God? We invite Him to fix something that’s broken so we can be comfortable again and get back to our normal life, but we’re not asking him to come make himself at home.

That God is willing to make himself at home with us should be shocking. 

God, at home with me?! 

God himself smiling and sighing, “Ah, now this feels like home”?!

Jesus’ statement in John 14:23 follows a promise he had made just a few verses earlier: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”  John 14:2

The Greek word in verse 2 for rooms is the same word used in verse 23 for home (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). It means abode or dwelling-place.

While we wait for Jesus to prepare a home for us, we can live in such a way that God makes his home in us, here and now. Jesus explains how: it’s obedience to His word that signals genuine love, flinging the door open, handing God the keys, and inviting him to settle in. 

Obedience to His word doesn’t bring God the Holy Spirit into my life, but it’s the invitation for him to be more than a repairman. Obedience lovingly says, “Come check out each room of my heart, stay awhile, renovate and redecorate, and do whatever it takes to make yourself at home.”

The Weight of Waiting

This summer, the boys and I often dropped in at our local YMCA. On the way to my trusty treadmill, I’d pass the weight-lifters and try not to stare at the contorted faces under the strain of their routine (AKA torture). Their effort was audible most of the time, so I’d quickly put my earbuds in place to drown out the sound of their exhaustion. 

In reality, a little pain, sweat, and tears are to be expected at the Y.  We anticipate spending energy and bearing some discomfort for the health benefits that we’ll gain in return. We know that time + resistance = strength.

What I so easily forget is that time + resistance in life builds strength too - and that resistance usually comes in the form of waiting.

Waiting is a workout for our faith, but I don’t usually wait like I’ve just entered faith’s YMCA, and I don’t willingly sign up for that membership. There’s no sign overhead alerting me to the fact that I’ve just stepped foot into a gymnasium full of opportunities and equipment that will strengthen my faith over time. 

If I don’t wait like it’s a workout,

fatigue will come as a surprise.

I’ll chide myself, lose motivation, and I’ll quit. 

Time gradually increases the weight and adds in more reps that won’t crush my faith; instead, time chisels it. While waiting, faith pushes back to become shapely and strong, capable of so much more than its previous limits.

If you’re waiting on God, he’s attentive and knowledgeable and deeply committed to increasing your faith’s stamina, like a personal trainer at the Y.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. 

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31