I’m heartbroken. The
church I grew up in is going through a split, families and staff
leaving or let go. Relationships shattered. The body of Christ in pieces. Sheep
left grieving over a divided flock. I love this church, the people still in it
and those who used to be there.
One time, my normally-passive
older son, gave his younger brother what he thought was “fair warning” and then
punched him in the face. Something about Legos.
I confess. Multiple times
a day, I impulsively check my book’s rating on Amazon. Unfortunately getting
published won’t fulfill all of my dreams. Somebody else’s book is always hitting
the best seller list over mine.
We all want more.
The conflict, comparison, and discontentment that results are a product of misplaced desire.
Because they refused to
enter the Promised Land, the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years.
God miraculously provided manna from heaven every day. It wasn’t enough. They
craved meat from Egypt. They grumbled and complained. They desired what God had
not provided. (Numbers 11)
The Levites were set
apart by the Lord to serve in and guard the tabernacle instead of going to war.
They ministered before the congregation, but that wasn’t enough for some of them.
They desired the priesthood and confronted Moses and Aaron. And the Lord caused
the ground the swallow them up. (Numbers 16)
Even Aaron and Miriam fell
prey to desire: “Has the Lord indeed only spoken through
Moses? Has he not spoke through us also?” And the Lord struck Miriam with leprosy for seven days. (Numbers 12:1-16)
“It’s a terrifying reality,” as I
heard a pastor recently say, “that people can believe in God, and yet still
love themselves more.”
Misplaced desires will
ruin you and those around you. Misplaced desire ruins families, marriages, and
churches. It causes fights, divisions, and quarrels.
James, the brother of
Jesus, wrote to the Israelite believers scattered among the nations, “What
causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that
battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but
you cannot have what you want.” (James 4:1-2)
The problem is that
misplaced desires is something we ALL struggle with, from those living in
poverty to the most wealthy, from the lowly to the most powerful. Every person
thinks of themselves first. Without the redeeming work of the Holy Spirit
transforming our hearts day by day, we are destined to be swallowed up by our
desires, as the ground swallowed up those Levites.
I often have to ask
myself why I want The Marvelous Mud House to be a bestseller. Is it because I want His glory or my own? I need the message of contentment in the story as much as anyone else.
Moses was the humblest man alive because he knew that nothing here on earth compared to the glory of God. The only true place that we can put our desires is on our good shepherd. Only the good shepherd
can lead and fulfill his sheep. Even when they are broken and hurting, biting
each other and bleeding. Our shepherd, the Lord, will continue to guide, lead,
protect, discipline, and comfort us, when we place our desires at his feet.
"Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken."
Psalm 62:5-6
