The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.Psalms 138:8 English Standard Version
I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.Psalms 57:2 New Living Translation
Sometime last year, there was a flyer of a programme which circulated via whatsapp and Facebook that I eventually got to see. It was supposed to be a night of prayers or deliverance but the title was both humorous and amazing.It was titled "Give me a husband or I die".While I may not be able to judge what the intent of the organizers were, the caption probably connoted the feeling of desperation we sometimes have (trust me , I have had my times of desperation )when we are seeking something from the Lord and while I am not against earnestly stating specific requests before God,there is a line we can cross when we become so consumed by our requests. We then become guilty of Spiritual lust which is best described by Oswald Chambers.
According to Oswald Chambers, Spiritual lust is the demand that God does it now. Somehow we manage to keep our lives on hold, all in anticipation of the answering of a request, while everything else revolves around it.We pout and fret and refuse to see anything further apart from the need for God to answer immediately. This is not to condemn a bit of frustration which may sometimes be inevitable especially as some of these desires are legitimate but when it becomes an overriding passion, then we are apt to be denied peace and contentment.
Spiritual lust also has pride in its roots as we think this ought to have been done by now but the truth is that as human beings ,we are all afflicted with a degree of blindness and cannot say for certain what will happen next. This pride takes the responsibility of wanting to run God's timetable and denies him he freedom to act at his own timing.
If life has narrowed down to one thing that we fail to recognize others or even be grateful for what we already have , then it is possible that we are being consumed by Spiritual lust which can be likened to physical lust.This usually leads to a sense of desperation that makes us do things we ought not to as seen in the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:5-17) which is unfortunately repeated with a twist when one of his sons, Ammon in the name of love raped his very beautiful half sister,Tamar.(2 Samuel 13:1-22).
But God is not consumed or moved by our desperation.Rather his one consuming desire is that we be conformed to the image of his son (Romans 8:29)who was so sold out to his father's will. One of such times just before the cross at the Garden of Gethesamane. He cried"..not my will but yours be done"( Luke 22:42).Sometimes to achieve his purpose, there might be circumstances and things we have to go through which would bring us closer to God and enhance our dependency on him.
Lust is best combated by love, a need for understanding again that God loves us .King David had so many troubles following his anointing and ascension to the throne. He sometimes had to become a fugitive but he still held on, assured of God's love and thoughts towards him.(Psalms 139:17-18;8:4).It is our responsibility not to allow ourselves to be seperated from the love of God. It is God's personal love for us that should keep us going .So many times we quote the great chapter of faith but forget that it is through faith and patience these people received the promises ( Hebrews 6 :12) and that some of them did not even still receive the promise(Hebrews 11:37,39) but continued to believe God.And that is what God expects as we mature. It is what differentiates children from grown ups.That rather than being consumed by lust, we have to come to the point of realization that he is all powerful and all knowing, that what we are asking him to do, he sure is able to do it but he has his own timing and he would do it at the right time.
I must confess that I am not fully free of spiritual lust but I have gradually learnt that God is good and is able to do it and that at his own time to suit his purposes best and then it will be beautiful(Ecclesiastes 3:11).
So today, just as a little reflection is there any prayer request you have that has now turned into spiritual lust, making you not to function, it could be prayer for healing (how many turn away from God just because he has not healed them or a loved one) or for a child, a better job or even a partner.Trust me if it is going to enhance God's purpose he will eventually bring it to pass.He is big enough to be concerned about his purpose and sees the bigger picture.This season of love we should do a house check and make sure we are not blinded to the love of God by spiritual lust .
Happy Valentine
Grace Tom-Lawyer
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