The ongoing joke amidst this intense heatwave we’re all enduring is how Nairobi feels more like an oven than a city; you start your day sun-kissed and end it as burnt offerings! ? I know am not the only one who has craved a chilled, refreshing ice-cold drink, perfect for melting away the sweltering heat of Nairobi’s ‘oven. And the funny bit is, once the image of that chilled drink is planted in your mind, you can’t stop thinking about it, it beckons with promises of relief from the relentless sun as we navigate the streets of this sunbaked city.
Isn’t this scenario quite similar to our life experiences whereby you find yourself chasing after the cravings and desires of your heart? I know I have severally if not most of the time and it’s perfectly normal to have desires, after all we are humans. Our souls are made up of the mind, will and emotions. The soul is the heart of feelings, desires, and affections. In the busy rush of our lives, it’s easy to get caught up in the pursuit of our desires. Whether it’s success in our careers, fulfilling relationships, or material possessions, our hearts often yearn for things we believe will bring us happiness and fulfilment.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the rat race of life, relentlessly pursuing one thing or the other, then ultimately end up fatigued, burnt out and unfulfilled. I know this feeling all too well because I’ve been there myself. It turns out the problem was channeling my efforts and energy into the wrong ventures as well as channeling them into the right ventures but at the wrong season. A one year old baby can’t wake up and start running, a five year old child isn’t expected to be a driver and a ten year old isn’t mature for a relationship/marriage…Life works in seasons and phases. No matter how hard we try, when the season isn’t right, chances are high that things won’t work out optimally as they were originally designed to. Ecclesiastes 3:1 there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Wisdom guides us to walk in discernment, allowing us to differentiate between the seasons.
The Bible is rich with scriptures that talk about the desires of our heart:
Psalms 37 4 Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalms 145 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
Psalms 145 19 He fulfils the desires of those who fear him; He hears their cry and saves them.
At first glance, these verses might seem to promise that God will grant us whatever we want if we just delight in Him but as Christians we are called to examine the desires of our hearts and align them with God’s will. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, when we cultivate a deep relationship with God, spending time in prayer, studying His Word, and seeking His guidance, our desires begin to shift. A story is told of a young man, an addicted chain smoker, who got born again. Every Sunday, when the pastor asked if anyone had a testimony, he would gladly and boldly stand and share that he had smoked a certain number of cigarettes, much to the chagrin of the elders. But what was amazing is that every week, the number of packets gradually reduced until one day he stood and testified that he had stopped smoking. When we start to desire the things that are close to God’s heart, our desires begin to align with His will.
The book of Numbers 11 tells a chilling experience of unruly desires. Background story: the Lord had delivered the children of Israel from Egypt and they were en route to their promised land. The entire way they kept incessantly mumbling and grumbling about one thing or another. The first complaint, as seen in Exodus 14, arose when they found themselves at the edge of the Red Sea with the Egyptians hot on their heels. It seemed they were caught between a rock and a hard place but God through Moses made a way for them to cross. The second complaint, detailed in Exodus 15:22-25, occurred when they couldn’t find water to drink. Upon arriving at Marah, the water they found was too bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord, who then showed him a log. Moses threw it into the water, miraculously turning the bitter water sweet. The third complaint {Exodus 16} arose when they arrived at the desert of Sin and the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, saying, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. The Lord heard and rained down bread from heaven.
The story continues, detailing how they persisted in complaining against God and Moses, despite the numerous ways in which God had proven Himself faithful in keeping His promises. In Numbers 11: 1-2 the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when He heard them His anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. You’d think they would learn their lesson, right? Wrong. Lol. In verse 4, the rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”
Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents and the Lord became exceedingly angry, and responded to Moses “tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”
And true to His word, a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than 1.6 metric tons. Then they spread them out all around the camp but while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and He struck them with a severe plague. Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, [graves of craving] because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
What a tragic irony, that the very thing for which they cried and lamented became the very source of their downfall. Despite my numerous readings of this chapter, it never fails to send a shiver down my spine. The gravity of the situation is palpable and I find myself compelled to pause and reflect as my heart cries out in prayer.
Oh Lord, we humbly pray for the alignment of our desires and cravings with Your divine will, so that we may walk in obedience to Your commands. Grant us the strength to resist the temptation to covet and desire that which is not ordained for us in each season of our lives. Help us refrain from murmuring and demanding things that ultimately lead to our own misery and spiritual death.
May we always seek Your wisdom, enabling us to recognize Your voice amidst the noise of the world. Grant us the discernment to understand Your will and the seasons of our lives, guiding us to walk in obedience. In those challenging moments where taking up our cross to follow You feels contrary to our natural instincts, teach us to trust in Your goodness. Even when Your plans diverge from our own desires, instill in us the faith to believe that Your intentions for us are always for our ultimate good.
Thank you that Christ set the perfect example of aligning His desires with the Father’s will. In the garden of Gethsemane, facing the weight of the cross, He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” Luke 22:42. In this moment of intense human struggle, our Savior submitted His desires to the will of the Father, ultimately bringing salvation to all who believe.
Lord we are grateful for the desires You have placed in our hearts. Help us to align these desires with Your perfect will. Give us the strength to surrender our plans to You, trusting that Your ways are higher than ours. May we delight in You above all else, knowing that as we seek You first, You will give us the desires of our hearts and as we align the desires of our hearts with Your will, we will find a deep sense of peace and fulfilment that the world cannot offer. Our desires will no longer be driven by selfish ambition but by a desire to honor and glorify God in all that we do.
May we not be like the seed that falls among thorns, hearing Your word and letting the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out the word, rendering us unfruitful. May this seed fall on good soil, that we will hear the word and understand it leading us to produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Help us Lord that we will not love the world or the things in the world for all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Remind us always that the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Teach us to rejoice in You always and to give thanks in all circumstances. And Lord when we get overwhelmed with worry and anxiety about anything, remind us that in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we are called to present our requests to You. For You have promised that Your peace which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
Lord teach us to bring our desires before You in prayer and shape them to reflect Your perfect will for our lives. Help us to dive into Your word to understand Your heart so that our desires begin to align with God’s principles. Give us the strength to surrender our will to You, to let go of our plans and embracing Yours, even when it’s uncomfortable or unclear.
Surround us with fellow believers who will encourage and support us on this journey, who will share the struggles and victories with one another, and pray together for God’s will to be done in our lives. Above all, may we continually seek to align our desires with God’s will, finding true joy and fulfilment in You alone, for the glory and honor of Your name. Amen!
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