What God Wants

In her most recent book, Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor writes of her and her husband's decision making saying,

Since we are both intuitive types, we do not decide things as much as we gravitate toward them. This is not very theological language, I know, but on the subject of divine guidance I side with Susan B. Anthony. "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do," she once said, "because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." Having been somewhat of an expert on the sanctification of my own desires, I try not to pin them on God anymore. At the same time, I recognize the enormous energy in them, which strikes me as something God might be able to use.

When I read the stories in the Bible about people such as Sarah, Jacob, or David, what stands out is not their virtue but their very strong wants. Sarah wanted her son to prevail over Hagar's son, Jacob wanted his older brother's blessing, and David wanted Bathsheba. While these cravings clearly brought them all kinds of well-deserved trouble, they also kept these characters very, very alive. Their desires propelled them in ways that God could use, better than God could use those who never colored outside the lines. Based on their example, I decided to take responsibility for what I wanted and to trust God to take it from there.

Note:Yesterday, I did a rare (the only time yet for me) sermon re-mix in which yesterday's sermon Unwrap Your Gift was built out of quotes from and comments on my sermon for St. Andrw's and St. Cyprian's Episcopal Churches in Darien Singing in Harmony. It felt like the right sermon in spite of its odd genesis. The settings were different and the one yesterday helped me see how mature King of Peace is becoming.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church