You are Designed To Desire
by
Joanne Rodasta Wilshin
How many times have you really wanted something, only to be told that
wanting it is selfish or unrealistic? Have you dreamed of grandness,
only to be reminded that the “meek shall inherit the earth?”
These limiting reminders, while well-intended, block and deny the
very essence of one of God's greatest gifts to you: your ability
to create what you desire.
That's right. God designed each of us to desire things. Not only
that, he designed us to be able to create that which we desire. According
to Proverbs 13:19, “The desire accomplished is sweet to the
soul.” God wants us to want, and God wants us to have what
we want.
And, really, this seems pretty logical. Why would God gift us with
the quality to desire without also gifting us with the ability to
have what we desire?
We must understand that we get into problems with desire when we don't
understand it and don't understand how to use it. We want the
wrong things, or we're out of touch with our true desires.
To desire properly, we have to understand the power of desire. According
to Paul Buser, “Desire, like the atom, is explosive with creative
force.” Buser doesn't just mean that having a desire makes
you creative. He's saying that a desire, like a belief, has a
creative force all its own. Not only does the desire compel and propel
you to do things that will attain the desire, but it has its own personal
influence on matter. The energy of the desire itself works outside
yourself to manifest itself in the physical world. That's how
powerful a desire is.
God knows this. That's why God created us to want and desire;
he knew that our act of wanting would indeed create that which is
desired.
From one perspective, this is pretty fabulous. Just think of the desires
you'd like to see show up in your life!
But from another perspective, there are problems. What happens when
you desire conflicting things? What happens when you want bad things?
What happens when you want things meant only to protect you from others?
What happens is that these conflicting and protective desires actually
manifest into exactly what you don't want. For example, if you
want a cheater to get what he deserves, that desire creates revenge.
But it doesn't create what you really want, which is to be treated
fairly.
Conflicting and protective desires usually result from limited thinking.
“We trifle [squander] when we assign limits to our desires,”
wrote Christian Bovee, “since nature hath set none.” In
other words, we waste a great opportunity each time we rouse a desire
based on limited thinking.
Gifts
