What Does a Pedicure Have to Do with a Desire for God?

I'd told myself I would eat healthy food while on a recent trip out of town. That commitment didn't last very long. I didn't eat sweets or eat too much at mealtime (sorta) but I didn't eat a salad or much that would be part of a salad.

Why is it so easy to say one thing then do another? Does that happen to you? It does. I know it. It's a universal problem and you aren't exempt from it.

If I began to tell you all the times I've resolved to do something better only to neglect the resolution almost before the words drift away into the clouds… I guess my head is in the clouds for thinking I could really do it.

Here's what I know about desires, temptations, and the struggles we all face.

Everyone has desires. We all want something. Sometimes the desires are selfish; sometimes they are noble. Desires can reveal a need for something good. Or desires can reveal the sinful nature within all of us. I think we all have both kinds of desires: those that reveal a need for something good and those that reveal our sinful nature.

Nothing is further from God's desire for you than for you to follow the bad desires of your heart. Yes, the Bible says to "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart," but the key is delighting in the Lord. Only when we delight in the Lord are we assured of gaining the desires of our hearts. Why? Because our desires are of the good variety when we delight in the Lord.

Satan would love to help you fall for the bad desires. He would rejoice to see you take the bait of temptation to follow a path that leads to harm and destruction. If the angels in heaven rejoice when a person is saved then the demons of hell must be ecstatic when a person falls into sin through temptations aimed at fleshly desires.

Desire is real. So is temptation. The struggle is real. Even Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) said he struggled wanting to do one thing but doing another. What can you do?

Delight yourself in the Lord. But what does that mean? Think about an experience that so pleased or fulfilled you that you could hardly stand it. Has your wife ever tried to convince you to get a pedicure? She explains how relaxing and rejuvenating it is. As she talks more about it she begins to melt into the chair just like she does when she is getting the pedi. Although I don't want anyone playing with my feet, that seems to be the ultimate in satisfying activities. To delight yourself in the Lord means to be completely satisfied with him and by him. You need nothing else.

Do you delight in the Lord? Do you delight in the Lord like that? When the Lord so pleases and fulfills and excites you that you can hardly stand it, he will give you the desires of your heart because your desires will be centered around him.

The next time you commit to something - which is an expression of your desires - remember to first delight in the Lord. Your desires (and commitments to them) may change; that's OK! The desires that come from delighting in the Lord will be better anyway.

photo cred: godswordimages.com