When I Don’t Desire God: Foreword
Dec 24th, 2007 by Hugh
When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy by John Piper. “Foreword and a Prayer” (pp. 9-10)
Précis
Only God can create joy in God; desiring God requires change at the core of a person that only God can give. God uses means to awaken this joy, but these means are neither identical to joy in God nor guaranteed to produce it through solely human effort; therefore, pray.
Quotes
- When all is said and done, only God can create joy in God… To be satisfied in the beauty of God does not come naturally to sinful people. By nature we get more pleasure from God’s gifts than from himself. (p. 9)
I took encouragement from your post about starting to read “When I Don’t Desire God” to take a look at it myself, getting thorugh the first couple of chapters. It is a very timely book for me, actually. A lot has been happening to show me just how much I look to the wrong things to fulfill me - not trusting what God says or that He will not disappoint. I found a quote from C.S. Lewis that I really relate to right now “The surest means of disarming an anger or a lust was to turn your attention from the girl or the insult and start examining the passion itself.” I’m finding that if I consider the passion itself and why I do not find the fulfillment of that passion (or its root) in God or His ordained provisions, I can sometimes avoid the sin.
Thanks for the tip on the book,
Thanks Jeff. I’m re-reading it and I’m going to blog through it chapter by chapter, so we’re in this together…