Images of flattened homes, crushed cars, and building debris flitted across our TV screens in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Many of us felt saddened for the victims. But soon the reports became too overwhelming to bear. It was easier to flip the channel to a sitcom or a football game. Distractions keep our minds off the victims’ desperation.
When you think hard, you can relate at a certain level to their despair. Many believers can recall a moment crying out to God, “I need You!” Yet very few of us stay there, clinging to Him. We flip off His channel (but may keep Him as one of our “Favorites.”) Why?
Distractions Dilute Desperation
In our western world of over-abundance and over-achievement, desperation has become a state of shame … a feeling to avoid. “She’s desperate for a guy” or “He’s desperate for a job” are sentiments most often shared with pity.
So when distractions grab our attention, it’s tempting to seize them and “change channels” in order to escape the desperation we feel for God. We flip away from pursuing God to pursuing some other validation or activity. There’s no shortage from which to choose. We may even feel secretly relieved for the distraction. It’s much easier not to feel desperate for God.
The upshot? Our desperation for God gets fuzzy and loses focus … eventually turning to complacency.
What God Thinks of Our Desperation
God is less interested in being one of the channels to which we flip. Rather, He wants to be our primary setting, one we view with a laser-like focus. “You will seek me and find me,” God says in Jeremiah 29:13, “When you seek me with all your heart.” Desperation for Him is the only emptiness He guarantees to be filled!
And while the world may look down on the vulnerability which accompanies desperation, God rewards it. “The love of most will grow cold,” said Jesus. “But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Desperate for God? Don’t change that channel. Get there – and stay there. It’s a great place to be.
