“When we delight ourselves in the Lord, new desires are conceived within us. God literally downloads new desires. And those divine desires become an internal compass that guides us as we embark on a Wild Goose chase. The exciting thing to me is that you never know how a God-ordained passion will be conceived.”- Mark Batterson
“But [Nehemiah} said to [Artaxerxes], ‘May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’ The king said to me, ‘What is it you want?’ “- Nehemiah 2:3-4 (NIV)
Mark Batterson continues Chapter 2 of Wild Goose Chase as he notes that a link exists between goodness and gladness when we pursue the passions God places in our heart. In The Hungering Dark (1985), Frederick Buechner links gladness and vocation. Buechner states:
“The voice we should listen to most as we choose a vocation is the voice that we might think we should listen to the least, and that is the voice of our own gladness. What can we do that makes us the gladdest? I believe that if it is a thing that makes us truly glad, then it is a good thing and it is our thing.”
Therefore, God desires that we delight in what we do. Above all, Mark underscores, it’s better to fail at something we love than succeed at something we don’t enjoy. So, the question What do you want? gets to the heart of passion. And for Nehemiah, the king’s question cut directly to Nehemiah’s moment of truth. He needed to choose between his human responsibility to the king and a God-ordained opportunity.
However, Nehemiah knew exactly what he wanted. When the king posed his question, the prophet had already thought and prayed about his passion for months. A Wild Goose chase first conceived as a single-cell desire. So, he now acted on his Wild Goose bump.
Today’s question: What Bible verses encourage us to delight ourselves in the Lord? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “When we play God – counterproductive”
