Desire for God

Anthony_Joseph · Newbie Joined: Dec 21, 2005 Posts: 11 Status: **Offline**

"You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised. Great is your power and your wisdom in infinite. And man would praise you; man, who is but a small particle of your creation; yes, man, though he carries with him his mortality, the evidence of his sin, the evidence that you resist the proud; yet man, but a particle of your creation, would praise you.

"You awaken us to delight in your praise; for you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
-From The Confessions of St Augustine

St. Augustine profoundly points out that it is only God who can satisfy man. Every satisfaction we seek elsewhere, apart from God, will ultimately leave us unsatisfied. When we hold up any created thing as our final satisfaction, seeking it above even God, we commit the sin of idolatry. Idols, being insufficient to bring meaning and fulfillment to man, inevitably turn and bite the idolater. C.S. Lewis said that if we put first things first and second thing second, we will enjoy both. But put second things first and first things second, you not only lose first things, second things always end up distorted or perverted.

This longing that man experiences, which compels him to seek satisfaction for, can be a powerful pointer in the direction of God. This is called the argument from desire. Every natural desire that comes from inside of man (food, drink, sleep, sex, friendship, knowledge, etc.) always has a real object that corresponds to that desire. Man also has artificial desire that come from external sources, such as advertising or fantasy. The corresponding objects for these desires do not always exist. Little kids sometimes wish they had superpowers, but superpowers do not exist. But they also naturally want food, which does exist.

Now, if man were to look inside himself, he would find a desire that nothing on this earth can satisfy. This is the reason that all the money, power, fame, and pleasure in the world ultimately leaves every person unsatisfied and wanting more. The rate of suicide is the highest in the richest countries on the planet, and lowest among the poorest. It seems that everything the world can supply for happiness is not enough. Yet we still desire to be happy. It seems then that the object of man's true happiness, what will ultimately satisfy him, must be outside this world. Man naturally desires happiness and every other case of natural desire has a corresponding object. It is perfectly reasonable that this desire also has a corresponding object.

This doesn't automatically lead us to God, but it points us in the direction. This object of this desire must be infinitely more than what man can imgaine, something which our restless hearts can finally rest in. St. Augustine testifies that this is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This can be tested. See for yourself if a fully surrendered and self-abandoned seeking of the Lord will not give your heart rest.


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