Desperate

http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1427426

                            

I’m reading a book this summer called Made to Crave by Lisa TerKeurst.  It’s a book filled with powerful truths that are changing the way I see myself and God. 

Recently, I read a statement in her book that grabbed my thinking and just wouldn’t let go.  She said, “Desperation brings degradation”.

I’ve always been critical of Esau, Jacob’s brother, who willing sold his birthright for a measly bowl of soup.  How could he do it?  His need was so insignificant and his desperation so great, it led him to do something he never dreamed he would do.  Seriously, what was he thinking? 

But then it hit me – I’m Esau!  No I haven’t sold my birthright for a bowl of soup – I don’t even have a birthright but every day when I allow myself to give in to my cravings, when I follow my hidden desires  Satan wins.   I’ve just traded a little piece of me for a New York minute of satisfaction.  I’ve opened the door to the voracious monster who craves more and more and is never truly satisfied.

But what happens if I turn my desperation towards God?  If I’m desperate for Him?

What if I were to crave God, like I crave a decadent dessert?  What if I were to long for Him, like I long to see my son who’s just returned from Afghanistan?  What if I were to hunger for God, like I desire a long talk over a good cup of coffee with my sister who lives far away?

Desperate for God is the only kind of desperation that doesn’t lead to degradation.  Desperation for God quells the raging monster of temporary satisfaction.  Desperation for God gives hope instead of stripping it away.  Desperation for God brings freedom instead of binding us to our never ending quest for gratification.

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.  I thirst for God, the living God.  When can I go and stand before him?  Psalm 42.1-2

Lord, teach me to crave you more than anything else, to quit choosing temporary satisfaction over You.  May I be desperate only for You . . . hunger for only You . . . seek only You.  Amen.