When Desires Drift

"Arise, my love... the flowers appear, the time of singing has come." - Song of Solomon 2:10-12

You know that feeling when you're carrying something you really want and you're trying to figure out if it lines up with what God wants? Not in an anxious way. Just genuinely wondering. Like, I've got these hopes that feel real to me, and I'm curious how they connect with what He's up to. There's this gap we're trying to understand.

Paul, an early Christian leader, talks about this to the Romans. He says "God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). Poured out. Not a trickle. Not carefully measured. He's describing God working from the inside, not just handing down instructions from outside. Think about where we actually experience wanting things. Where we feel the pull toward what matters to us. That's the territory he's talking about. God's not distant, watching us try to figure it out on our own. He's already there, working in the same place our desires live.

Jesus puts it even more directly with His disciples. He tells them, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit" (John 15:16). We think of alignment as us trying to climb up to where God is. But He's describing something else - Him reaching down, choosing us, appointing us. The lift is coming from His side, not ours.

In ancient Israel, when Moses led God's people, they crafted this sacred anointing oil. The text calls it "the work of a perfumer" (Exodus 37:29). That's precision work. A perfumer doesn't just dump ingredients together. They're blending, adjusting, creating something specific. And perhaps it's occurred to us - that's what's happening with us. Jesus as the perfumer, carefully working with what we bring and what heaven provides.

So when we're wondering if what we want can line up with what God wants, maybe we're thinking about it backwards. We picture it like we've got to somehow force our wants to match His - like trying to make two puzzle pieces fit that aren't shaped right.

But here's what Paul's describing. God working from the inside out. Jesus choosing and appointing - the lift coming from His side. The perfumer blending what we bring with what heaven provides. Not asking us to manufacture it. Doing it Himself, in us, right now.

So tomorrow can unfold differently. We're not waking up trying to force something that won't budge. We're waking up to what He's doing - the choosing, the appointing, the blending, the working from inside where our wants actually are. His work. Already begun.

Prayer

Father, thank You that You're doing this work from Your side. The choosing. The appointing. The blending of what we bring with what You provide. Help us see what You're doing and trust Your work in us. Amen.