Christian Living

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Desperate Christianity

2God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, who sought (inquired after and desperately required) God. -Psalm 53:2 (AMP)

“Breathe” is an incredible worship song performed by many Christian artists. A line in the song cries, “I’m desperate for You”. This is one of few worship songs, in my opinion, that has an amazing impact in personal worship time as well as corporate. When the instrumentation dies and all that is left is the corporate, acapella cry in unison, I am often left in awe.

I knew a woman in the Church one time that absolutely refused to sing this song. She was an older woman who had much wisdom to offer to the younger women coming up in Christ. But, she found this song both offensive and contrary to what she believed. She said that she had God in her life always and she was in no way desperate for Him, she didn’t have to be.

This not only perplexed me, but really got me thinking. It left me with questions in myself about my own walk. Surely if this seasoned woman of God found this offensive, maybe I should also? What was wrong with me? Why wasn’t my relationship with God so seemingly secure that I didn’t want to sing that song either?

I set out on my pursuit to discover what it was in this “Spiritual Mother’s” relationship with Christ that I needed in mine. I got before the Lord, and I started questioning Him. I started searching the Word to support that I did not need to be desperate. I tried not to sing that song, so I wouldn’t be “confessing that” over my walk with Him.

But what was the truth? I was desperate for Him and everything I have found over the years and in the Word, leads exactly to that conclusion. Desperation started at the point Adam was thrust from the Garden and forced from the pleasure of walking in Gods physical presence.

It is exactly that which throughout the Bible drove those desperate for His presence, His approval and His will to become the stories of faith and hope that we cling to today. Every act of those in pursuit of God’s presence, from worship to war, can be viewed as acts of desperation.

The very first definition of desperate in the “Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary” is: without hope. How true it is then to say, “God, I am without hope without You.”

We often think of desperation as something that comes when we are at our wits end and do not know what else to do. It has become a word related to more of a last resort, than a way of life. Looking at it from that perspective we can see that is precisely how most Christians pursue God.

“Well, I’ve done everything I can God, You are going to have to take over”. “Lord, I’m at the end of my rope here, I don’t know what else to do”. “God, I’ve tried and tried and I just keep failing, You are going to have to change me”. “I give up”. These are things that most Christians can admit have been screamed, cried, prayed or thrown at God in a fit at some point in their walk.

It leaves many people broken, disgusted, hopeless, exhausted and on the wrong side of desperation. What?!

What would happen if we got on the other side of desperation from the get go? What does that mean? What exactly would that look like?

“God, before I even try today, I need You to go ahead of me, because it’s hopeless without You”! “Lord, this rope looks kind of short here, so I am not going to bother to pick it up, You’ll have to do it”. “God, I thank You that You are changing me and my life is Your hands and You won’t lead me astray”. “God, I know how this will turn out if I try, so I not even going to; it’s in Your hands”.

Desperation should always bring you to “requiring God”, most of the time it does. Desperate Christianity should put you front of the desperation, seeking God from the get go.
Strength in weakness is Desperate Christianity; approaching God in the strength of recognizing your weakness. It is a stark contrast to continuing to try to do it yourself, dragging yourself to the throne, battered, bruised and exhausted, finally recognizing your desperation. One result, two different paths, I think I’ll take the paved road.

So what did I discover on my search to be free from desperation? The more I get of God, the more I want. The more He quenches my thirst, the thirstier I am. The more He reveals Himself to me, the more I want to see. I am more desperate than ever and loving it.

Get on the strong side of desperation, let the cry of your heart each and every day be, “Lord, I’m desperate for You”. Let us find His strength in our weakness as we walk out “Desperate Christianity”.

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