In light of my recent post about dreams, I have been thinking about desires. God gives us desires and dreams, however when those desires become the object of our motivation we begin to follow a false god. How do we live with our desires and dreams, yet submit to God? There seems to be a fine line in experiencing the freedom of our dreams and desires and submitting to the ways of a sovereign God.
Henri Nouwen offers some insights to the dynamics our desires, "Our desire for God is the desire that should guide all other desires. Otherwise our bodies, minds, hearts and souls become one another's enemies and our inner lives become chaotic, leading us to despair and self-destruction" (The Only Necessary Thing, p. 28). After reading a thought like this, we may decide to aim all our energies towards ridding ourselves of desires other than God, however Nouwen offers the thought of spiritual disciplines as a way to order our lives.
"Spiritual disciplines are not ways to eradicate all our desires but ways to order them so that they can serve one another and together serve God." Nouwen's thoughts on desire and spiritual discpline have challenged me to walk through my desires and ask the Lord for them to be aligned with his desires for my life. This is a discipline, not an eradication. Disciplines submits, while eradication controls. Submission softens us to the voice of God, while control hardens us to the leading of the Spirit of Jesus.
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