Core Desire

We have a black lab named Ruby. She has more personality than any other dog I've ever known. She absolutely loves company, be it human or canine. She always acts like it's her birthday. She rarely has a foot on the ground as she hops and leaps and pounces and spins her way through the day. She loves life. And she absolutely loves the river.

Three times this summer, Ruby disappeared. Each time we received a phone call: She had gone to the river. Twice she swam over a mile beside a boat or tube until the fishermen pulled over at a campground and called the sheriff to come pick her up. Her only thought was to be in the water, and preferably with company.

I have been taking her on my morning walks more lately. Although it can be a bit distracting for my prayer time, it seems that the Spirit often uses her as an object lesson. One thing I can't help but notice is how she acts every time we start in the direction of the river. She gets more and more attentive. Then, when I let her off of the leash at the bridge, she stops every 5-10 yards to stick her head under the bottom rail to get a quick look at the water below. It has her full focus.

I love this picture. There is no doubt that God made her with a core desire to swim, and she has discovered it. She loves to fetch and play and explore, but it is all better in the water. She found her passion. It then begs the question: What core desire did God put in us as humans, and have you discovered it? 

I guess that our talents and gifting and activities pursued could be a part of that core desire. I have a deep love for music and writing, people and traveling, walking and exploring. And yet, I don't think any of these are my foundational passion. Rather, I believe that they are simply avenues to express and explore my true core desire. I believe the one desire that our Creator put in each and every one of us is to know Him. Not to know about Him, but to know Him. To make memories with Him. To spend time talking together and living together and sharing those activities that we love to do.

I almost always talk to God as I'm cooking, asking what ingredients to add or how long to cook something. (He is an amazing cook! Just ask my kids.) I love to tell Him how much I am enjoying the landscape or the song I'm writing or the friendship that I've made. I know He already sees and knows all things, even before they happen, but that's not the point. The point is that He wants to spend time together. He wants us to learn how He thinks and what His voice sounds like and what He sees that we would have missed without Him. He wants to give us new wisdom and ideas that we would have never found otherwise. He also wants to bring the words of the Bible to life in our very own lives - for us to know what love and grace and faith and hope really look like when we live them out deeper each day.

This isn't always an easy process, this getting to know God. Sometimes we make mistakes when we are learning to hear His voice. Sometimes we misunderstand what He says. Sometimes we let our emotions and own ideas get mixed in and He has to bring us back to the truth - usually through the Word. But this doesn't frustrate Him in the least. Just as loving parents get excited to see their children learning to talk and walk, so is God with us. I believe He laughs and rejoices over each attempt made, over each lesson learned. I know His grace covers countless mishaps. As long as we stay soft and teachable before Him, there is no limit to the places He will take us into Himself.

When Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be one with the Father just as He is, it was not just wishful thinking. God the Father has been arranging for all of time to bring you to this place, today, to know Him as Creator and Father and Friend. To know Him in the most intimate and majestic ways possible. This is that thing that keeps nagging at you from your core. This is what you were created to do. Believe me, it will make everything else in your life come alive.