We all have desires, cravings, hopes and longings. Maybe yours is a puppy, a new career or deeper relationships. But do you desire God? Do you crave Jesus Christ? Does your heart ache with longing for Him? Or do other things creep ahead of Christ on your list of wants and desires?
I’ve always known that I should desire God and I always wanted to love Him like crazy. But I couldn’t honestly say I did. I also knew that other things preoccupied my thoughts that shouldn’t. But it felt impossible to rearrange these things into their proper order.
My desires seemed outside of my control. After all, I couldn’t just wake up one day, resolve to become infatuated with God and abracadabra the desire would consume me. Similarly I couldn’t just decide to abandon other cravings. If I wanted something, I wanted it and try as I might I always would.
Or so I thought.
Earlier this year I read a message given to a group of teen girls by a woman named Dannah Gresh which revolutionized how I think about desire. I now believe that you can control what occupies your mind and that this is huge deal to God. In her message, Gresh defined two words that make all the difference; Delight and Desire.
Desire
A desire is anything that we long for or crave. It occupies our thoughts, often in a consuming way. The object of our desire often deceives us into believing that we can only be happy or fulfilled if we have it. This can be anything from a relationship to Starbucks lattes. It could be a puppy, popularity, a new phone, job, friends or body image.
Delight
While our desires can become out of control, it’s only because we give them the keys and permission. Delight is the key that unlocks desire.
Delight is dwelling on something and taking pleasure in it until it becomes a desire. Gresh illustrated this concept perfectly in her message. Imagine you are fasting. All of a sudden the thought of gooey pizza pops into your mind and you decide to continue thinking about that pizza. You can see the cheese and meat and imagine how it smells when it comes out of the oven. You’re starving and before you know it the delivery guy shows up with a large 3 meat pizza (I wonder how that happened…)!
That’s how delight works. It stirs up desire and leaves you vulnerable to temptation. Johnathan Edwards said “That which men love, they desire to have and to be united to, and possessed of. That beauty which men delight in, they desire to be adorned with. Those acts which men delight in, they necessarily incline to do.”
Lesser Things
The Bible tells us to delight ourselves in God, seeking Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. But how does this practically work?
First, we need to get rid of lesser desires that crowd out our passion for Christ. If your mind is consumed with cravings for things other than Jesus Christ you won’t have time to pursue Him wholeheartedly. Moreover, God doesn’t share His throne with anyone or anything. He has said “You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). How can you love Him with all your mind when so much of it’s energy and time is given to other things? You can’t serve those other desires and God.
We need to crucify other desires if we want to gain a passion for Christ.
Just as desire is birthed by delight, so it can be destroyed by delight. If you continue to delight (think about) that desire then it will continue to thrive and have a stronghold on your thought life. But if you starve the desire by ceasing to delight in it (dwell on it), then the desire will slowly die. Stop thinking about and looking at things that fuel the object of your desire.
I know this is easier said than done. You can’t do it in your own strength, you need the strength of Christ. That’s why the next step is so important.
Delight in God
Your mind is used to spending all it’s spare time delighting in and desiring lesser things. It’s not going to like taking a vacation. But our goal isn’t to take a vacation from delight, It’s to redirect your delight from lesser things to Christ.
Begin delighting in God! In the hours you used to lay in bed thinking about that guy, start thinking about That Guy who thinks you’re to die for, who wrote you the longest love letter in history and is eagerly planning your wedding. When you used to stand in front of your mirror, or scroll through Instagram and Facebook and long for a different body, put down your phone, step aside from the mirror and get on your knees begging God for a deep longing for more of Christ. In the moment you’re bored and crave sweets, rather than opening the pantry and pulling out the cookies open your Bible and feast on God’s goodness.
This may feel mechanical at first, but with some practice it will become second nature. Shortly after reading Gresh’s message I had the opportunity to practice it myself. At work one day I happened to glance out the widow and notice the moon. I gazed at that pure light defying it’s inky backdrop and realized Who it’s Artist was. In that moment I chose to delight myself in God. “You did a good job on the moon tonight God.” I softly spoke. This simple action brought such joy and delight to my heart I couldn’t stop delighting in Him.
Fullness of Joy
Our God has promised that in Him is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore. As you crucify lesser desires and delight yourself in Him, He will not disappoint. You will find deeper satisfaction, and more abundant delight than ever before.
I’d love to chat with you below!
- What fills your mind throughout the day?
- Do you feel like your desires are outside of your control?
- Have you ever delighted yourself in Christ?