Remembering that our address used to be paradise, is so helpful for me to get my perspective in the right place…
DESIGNED TO FLOURISH (Our address used to be Paradise)
(John Eldridge – Restoration Year)
LORD, all my desire is before You. PSALM 38:9 NASB
I was thumbing through a catalog that called itself “a catalog for cooks,” but really, it’s a catalog of the life we wish we had. Everything in it is immaculate— there are no messes. Glancing through its pages, you get a sense of rest. Life is good.
You see, the images whisper, it can be done.
Life is within your grasp. And so the quest continues. But, of course, our address used to be Paradise, remember?
And oh, how we yearn for another shot at Eden. Flip with me for a moment through the photo album of your heart, and collect a few of your most treasured memories. Perhaps it’s time with a loved one. Or when you first learned to ride a bike, or a treasured vacation.
You were meant to live in a world like that-every day. Just as your lungs are made to breathe oxygen, your soul is designed to flourish in an atmosphere rich in love and meaning, security and significance, intimacy and adventure. But you don’t live in that world anymore. So you try to resolve the dilemma by disowning your desire. It doesn’t work. It is the soul’s equivalent of holding your breath. Eventually you’ll find yourself gasping for air.
You can’t live with ignoring your desire.
Eventually something comes along and touches those essential places in you, to awaken the more you were meant for.
Recall a time in your life when you knew you were loved. Invite Jesus into the desire awakened in that memory.
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