I've been thinking about desire lately. I wrote awhile ago about the verse "Cast aside all that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverence the race marked out for you." These are some quotes from Passion and Purity, by Elisabeth Elliot, and God Called a Girl, by Shannon Kubiak (now) Primacerio on the topic. Most of both were originally written about guy/girl relationships, however, I'm applying them to more general circumstances... there are many parallels between desire for relationship and other desires, I think, not the least of which being the fact that both can easily replace God in our hearts.
"One thing I of the Lord desire, for all my life hath miry been-
Be it by water or by fire, oh make me clean oh make me clean!
So wash me now, without, within, or purge with fire, if that must be,
No matter how, if only sin die out in me, die out in me"
~old hymn
"The Lord told King David to set up an altar on the threshing floor of Aruanah the Jebusite. When the king asked Araunah if he might buy it, Araunah begged him to take it as a gift... 'No,' said the king, 'I will not offer to my God that which costs me nothing.'"
"Hold Thou Thy cross between us, blessed Lord.
Let us love Thee. To us Thy power afford
To remain prostrate at Thy pierced feet-
There is no other place where we may meet.
Set Thou our faces as a flint of stone
To do Thy will. Our goal be this alone.
O God, our hearts are fixed. Let us not turn.
Consume all our affections, let Thy love burn."
"'If you wish to go the whole way...' It was not to the intellect alone that the question came. My heart and my feelings were involved now, and I must give an answer. God was sifting me. Did I want to go the 'whole way'? Yes, Lord!"
...'The fair new petals must fall, and for no visible reason. No one seems enriched by the stripping. And the first step into the realm of giving is a surrender: an utter yielding of our best. So long as our idea of surrender is limited to the renouncing of unlawful things, we have never grasped its true meaning: that is not worthy of the name for no polluted thing can be offered.' What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us? The same God who 'did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; and how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?'
He gives all.
He asks all."
(All Passion and Purity)
And a very powerful poem from Shannon Kubiak (favorite phrases underlined :-)):
I come to the altar with no Isaac to bring
Just the desire to be loved and the hope for a ring
I've waited, I've worried, and I have failed to trust
So take from me this desire and teach me as you must
All alone before you, my heart I spill
With laughter and tears this empty vessel fill
I am looking, Lord, no longer for a man
But now to You, and what You have planned
I am gifted and growing and want to serve You
Just show me where to go and who to serve as I seek to follow through
And if alone You want me for years to come
Isolate and teach me what is to be done
I can't fight You any longer, I'm too weak
I'm done with fool's gold and real treasure I seek
I want You O Lord to put a twinkle in my eye
I want You to be my focus and not any other guy
But even as I say this, part of me holds back
Help me see singleness as blessing, not attack
Lord, help me not to feel worthless, unblessed, and alone
Help me throw my cares at Your throne
As You want me to wait, Lord, please put a hold on my heart
Help me not to give it away to someone who'll tear it apart
As I lay my desire down at Your feet
Help me to be honest and my promises to keep
Help me in loneliness to focus on the Cross
And when I feel left out, help me to count it all as loss
I don't want to struggle; I'm too tired to fight
Help me to keep on and do what is right
Remove from me this jealousy and replace it with joy
Fill my thoughts with You, O Lord, instead of a boy
On the altar of sacrifice I place my desire
And I ask, Lord, right now to burn it with fire
Please accept it, O Lord, for it's all I have to give
Help me let go of this bondage and truly live
Take all of me, Lord, even when I am opposed
Help me trust in You, the one who always knows
On my knees I fall, with tears on my face
And I ask, Lord, only that You'd meet me in this place
Altars are for bloodshed, so, Lord, here's my heart
Take it from me now, and grant me a new start
7 comments:
This ties directly to two things I've been thinking about a lot, lately. The first is the verse Jeremiah 29:13, which says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." The second thing is the aspect of God that was incarnated into Eve (therefore, all women after her), and that's the desire to be sought after. It's really phenomenal to me, that God, the all powerful savior, desires to sought after. Exodus says that God is a jealous God, who wants to be the center of our world, but the fleshly desires and distrations draw us away from God.
God's really been pounding this into my skull, and I can tell He's using your blog post to make sure I get the message.
God Bless.
"God's really been pounding this into my skull" Yeah, He does that to me too :-) Join the thickhead club :-)
"the aspect of God that was incarnated into Eve (therefore, all women after her), and that's the desire to be sought after" Sounds interesting... can you explain?
Sure, look in Genesis 1:26-27, "Let us make man in our image. ... male and female He created them." God is both fully male AND fully female, which is confusing to most people because one, (1) it transcends our understanding capability (without faith, at least), and two (2) God is most often refered to as "Father" and "Son."
What parts of God's image are incarnated into men? What parts of God's image are incarnated into women? So, to focus on Eve, women are beautiful, and desire to be sought after and fought for. It's the idea that your knight in shining armor is slaying the dragon in order to earn your approval, or your safety - that he loves you enough to go to battle for you. Does this answer your question?
I've been reading two books, both were recommended by Sarah Jane Hall, a fellow Summit colleague. One is called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge, and the other is called "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge. Each explains and lays out masculintity and femininty as it relates to childhood dreams (what every little boy dreams of, and what every little girl) and God's image. I recommend "Captivating" as a must-read for women, and "Wild at Heart" as a must-read for men. You can read "Wild at Heart" if you'd like. I will probably provide some really good insights into the way men are wired, just like "Captivating" has help me understand women.
Ah, so that must be what I remembered that sentiment from... I read Wild at Heart once. I think the "God put different aspects of Himself into men and into women" is a neat idea, but (at least as the author expressed it) I found it to be a bit dangerous...
1) because it almost sounded like you need a spouse to be complete. To completely express /imago dei/, a husband/wife is necessary it seems... but no, God is sufficent.
2) because we have to be really really /really/ careful to affirm that God is truly masculine, as it says in the Bible. Not to disagree with what you said /per se/, just qualifying it :-).
(By the way, I use // on comments where I would typically use italics... if that helps you understand why I'm using them so much and in, perhaps, odd places :-))
a) It is interesting that you posted this...for I have been thinking of the same thing recently as well. Can I join the thickheaded club too? ^_^
b) So Shannon Kubiak(Primacerio) got married? Or did I misinterpret that?
c) Anyway, I was considering these verses in 1 Corinthians 7: "An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided." This seemed to correlate with your comment "there are many parallels between desire for relationship and other desires, I think, not the least of which being the fact that both can easily replace God in our hearts." I wonder why God ordained marriage the way He did, fully knowing that those involved would have their desires seemingly split...
d) A couple comments on the comments so far: 1) Mitchell: the ESV has the Gen 1:27 translation as such: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them." Seems like God is male here. Also, despite a few allusions to motherly behavior(hen and chicks, etc.), I do not recall anything in the Bible that says that God is female. Can you support the claim("God is fully male and fully female") with scripture? Also, notice that Jesus came as a man. And that God is (as far as I know) always referred to in scripture as male.
e) To bounce off of Cara's comment "because it almost sounded like you need a spouse to be complete. To completely express /imago dei/, a husband/wife is necessary it seems... but no, God is sufficent." ...I also seem to recall that in 1 Cor.7, Paul wishes that Christians could remain like him[single].
So yeah...just thinking.
Thanks for posting this, Cara; 'tis definitely food for thought, and an encouragement to desire God more. ^_^ I love the phrase: "The same God who 'did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; and how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?'
He gives all.
He asks all."
Ah, to desire Him above all things!
--Josiah C.
a) well, we have many distractions, many things our flesh wishes us to treasure above Christ... so it would make sense :-)
b) yes, she got married... eventually... (but wrote the book before she got married)
To "I wonder why God ordained marriage the way He did, knowing that those involved would have their desires seemingly split" Well, that wasn't the way it was created to be (you know that, but hey :-)) Just like any other relationship, the perfect form of marriage is mutually supporting and encouraging the other's walk with the Lord primarily. Heard a quote somewhere along the way "a girl should be so lost in God that to find her, men must find God first." And besides, according to Mr. Swan (my pastor) this morning anyway, God has often used the prospect of marriage to force guys to get their act together :-).
a) Yep.^_^ b) Okay, thought so. c) Yes, I knew that, but a reminder never hurts.^_^ And I agree, the way the relationship should be "is mutually supporting and encouraging the other's walk with the Lord primarily". I also think God uses that relationship in many ways to teach us more about Himself. I was just musing on how a relationship which is primarily meant to be focused on the Lord also can be distracting. ^_^ --Josiah C.
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