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Desire

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food

though there are no sheep in the open and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:17-19a)

 

Desire --- it’s the only way you will ever make it. Take marriage, for instance. Or singleness. Either makes for a far more difficult and arduous ascent than Everest, in large part because it does not seem so. The struggles are not heightened and focused into one month of do or die, rather, they stretch across a lifetime. (John Eldredge, The Journey of Desire, Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000. P 18.)

 

I love the Eldredge quote above because we so often admire those who are martyred, or who climb Mr. Everest. They have done something we are sure we could not. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t honor people who have done such things, but being martyred may be a matter of holding on to your faith for ten minutes. Climbing Mt Everest may take a month or more. But being faithful to marriage vows may require overcoming temptation for fifty years. Living under an anti-Christian regime may demand faith for decades.

          We begin our walk toward God and with God with such hope, and then (as today’s passage says) everything falls apart. Or maybe it’s not quite so bad, but we just don’t see any big reward. Oh, we’re coping. We’re surviving, but that cute little homestead with the costumed critters involves vet bills, before-dawn to after-sunset work days, and lots…and lots…of laundry. It’s not too different if you have children instead of kids.

          The key to any long obedience in the same direction is desire and not the blue-hot flames that last a few minutes, but the sort that keeps the coals warm when there is no wood left. And when that’s not enough heat for us anymore, we’re tempted to find something a little more exciting-a different god or partner, or something less dramatic, like a new novel or TV show. And sometimes, when our desires have not been tended for long enough, we reach the point where we fear to desire or can’t find anything worth getting “all worked up about.” Some think the latter is safer, but I suspect the latter is deadly.

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