DAY 4: "What Do I Want?"

This has all been a set-up! You didn't know this, but the first three days were just preparing you for the first stage.  Today you'll begin the real work.  The first major task in Discovering, Pursuing, and Living God's dream for your life is to learn to identify it.

ENGAGING THOUGHT

Modern technology is amazing when you think about it: a smart-phone allows you to send messages from almost anywhere in the world to almost anyone in the world...while navigating in your car...while playing music...between games of Solitaire or Angry Birds.  Frankly, few of us have any clue how it does those things.  We just know that when you push certain buttons, certain functions happen, right?  Are we surprised that those things happen?  Not at all.  That's what those functions were designed to do - they're hard-wired (or programmed) to do exactly what the designer/engineer wanted them to do.  Should it be surprising then to imagine that certain things might be "hard-wired" into us as well by our Creator?

We can be pretty fickle and flighty when left to our own devices and following our own passions.  Conversely, we can be pretty diligent, determined, disciplined, dedicated, and lots of other "d" words when needed.  So why the dichotomy (I'm on a "d" word kick, apparently)?  Why are we so passionate about some things and so wishy-washy about others?  I think the answer lies in what motivates us, or, to put it another way: what we really want.  When we set our hearts and minds on something we want, most of us can become pretty-well fixated - to the point, even, of becoming obsessed by it.  So how do we choose our obsessions, then?

Some would have us believe that "the heart wants what the heart wants."  Have you ever heard that one?  Better question: have you ever followed that one?  But what if the truest and most powerful motivations weren't as fickle as they seem sometimes?  What if, like the functions of a smart-phone, we were made to desire certain things?  Anthropologists teach us that every human is hard-wired to seek food, water, and shelter.  Psychologists would add security to that list of basic motivations.  These are all well and good, but, I don't really fear missing out in questions of food, water, and shelter, do you?  This is probably where the theologians might insert themselves and add purpose to the list of hard-wired motivations.

Have you ever given much thought to the rules you apply when you choose your motivations?  Probably not - in fact, you might want to reread that sentence again to make sure you understand what I just said.  Every one of us has rules that we apply to our desires - we just don't identify them very often (or ever).  Silly Example: Do you desire to throw puppies off a tall building?  Why not?  What has led you to reject that particular desire in your life?  Is it the fear of criminal prosecution that stops you?  Is it the fear of being branded as a horrible human-being (which you would be!).  You get my point.  Without even stopping to identify or articulate to yourself what your rules might be in regards to puppies and buildings, you made a decision about that particular desire.  So that begs the question, then: what rules do you apply for choosing the desires you will pursue?  David, the Psalmist, wrote this:

"Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37.4 TNIV).

Some theologians argue that this verse has meaning on two levels: the first that when we actively follow the Lord and His ways that we walk in the path of His favor and blessing - and He grants to us the desires we carry in our hearts (the assumption being that those who delight in the Lord will have worthy desires); another level of this verse may be that as we trust in the Lord, again, following His path and dedicating ourselves to Him, that He places within our hearts those desires in line with His plan and purpose.  Truthfully, either one is a pretty good approach for choosing motivations.  At some levels, then, God has hardwired His DREAM into our hearts and minds - it just waits to be discovered and unlocked.

ACTION STEP

Identify and write out what you think are your deepest motivations. 

Warning: Everything in you will try to "fake it" and write down what you think should be your motivations.  Resist that temptation and be brutally honest to yourself.

If you're stuck on this ACTION STEP (and don't be surprised or frustrated if you are), try a question & answer approach:

• What job would you do, even if you weren't paid for it?
• What activities tend to be energizing for you? 
• Is there a role or task that satisfies you or makes you feel important? 

Tomorrow we'll start identifying some of the recurrent themes in our lives and how they play into the DREAM.