Aligning Our Deepest Desires with God's Purpose

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Have you ever had an intense desire for anything to the point where you were prepared to completely change your life to fulfill it? All of us have goals that we fervently pursue, whether they be romantic relationships, ideal careers, or sporting accomplishments. We can devote ourselves to these endeavors to the point where we never pause to consider whether they are truly worthwhile spending of our time, money, and emotions.

God sincerely wants us to lead fulfilled lives. Nevertheless, our conception of living life to the fullest frequently diverges from what God intends for us. We are constantly inundated with conflicting promises of contentment and happiness in our culture. Sex, wealth, power, education, and social standing are all said to contribute to happiness. We are undoubtedly leading fulfilling lives if we own all of these! Is there anything more we could want or desire?

Adopting this idealized view of the perfect existence and then falling short of reaching all of these goals makes us feel like failures, and we begin to tell ourselves falsehoods such, "If God really loved me, he would have given me that job." "I never would have let him go if God had known how much I wanted this relationship to succeed." It's important to keep in mind that our current circumstances or surroundings never offer a full and fulfilling existence. Because Jesus loves us and doesn't ask for anything in return, when we want to know and follow him, our innermost desires are fulfilled.

In the gospel of Mark, Bartimaeus begs Jesus to cure his blindness. Although he has a strong yearning for this, he sees Jesus as more than just a miraculous healer traveling through the community. He's not asking Jesus to come into his life and fix his problems so he may carry on having a happy and fulfilling existence. He is aware that following Jesus will satisfy all of his identity and purpose-related longings as he is the embodiment of the fulfillment of the deepest human wants.

You are being invited by Jesus to investigate your innermost desires. Turn to Jesus again if you've looked elsewhere for solutions but were let down. You can discover your identity, worth, and purpose by "following Jesus on the way," releasing yourself from hollow promises of satisfaction.