What do you do with those deep desires lodged under your heart? In my post Delight Yourself in the Lord I talked about how our hearts ache for both fellowship with God and partnership with Him, mostly focusing on our longing to be one with Him. This post is directed toward the second part–our longing to be part of what He is doing.

God uses people to accomplish what He wants to have done. We are the hands and feet and heart of Christ to a hurting world.

Somehow, many of us have the idea that God wants us to do things that we hate to do. Especially if we hate to do them. Because it is Very Good for us to do things we hate. If we enjoy doing certain things, we most certainly must not indulge ourselves.

I have a problem with this mentality. First of all, what does it say about God? He creates us uniquely gifted, then snatches it away and says, “don’t use it!” How does this reveal God as our Abba Father?

Secondly, I think it portrays a severe misunderstanding of our position in Christ. As Christians, we are not still mostly bad with a little good smoothed over the top. We are not a rotten apple covered in caramel. Our hearts are not evil. God has made us completely righteous!

 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

(1 Corinthians 2:12-16 ESV)

Did you catch that? We have the mind of Christ.

Often these statements of position in Christ are turned into a mantra of how we ought to live. We hear that we ought to have the mind of Christ, so we need to do this and this and this. My friends, that is not what the Bible says! It doesn’t say we ought to have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ.

We have the mind of Christ. Therefore, the things we long for in the deepest parts of us are the things Jesus also wants for us.

Do you feel a burning in your soul? Pursue it!

If, for reasons beyond your control, you cannot pursue your dreams, please know that God is just as sad about it as you are. But don’t let your hands drop in discouragement. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you another angle, other opportunities. And enjoy fellowship with Him in the process!

Then when you stand before God, you will feel His pleasure, and hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”