PRONE TO WANDER by Nicole Byrum

PRONE TO WANDER by Nicole Byrum

Have you ever wondered why doing the things that are good for you come with such difficulty? We know that exercise, even 20 minutes of walking, is beneficial to our physical health. Yet so often we neglect this activity. Similarly, we know that eating fruits and vegetables provides our bodies with the vitamins and nutrients we need to feel good and stay healthy. Nevertheless, we opt for cookies or takeout over the much-needed produce in our fridge. This principle is true even when it comes to our relationships. We know we should put the phone down and have a meaningful conversation with our spouse, but instead, we choose to keep scrolling.

Why do we do this? It seems to come down to a matter of desire; for what we desire most in the moment is what we are inclined to choose. As much as we might want to be healthy and fit, there are moments when our desires for convenience or rest are even stronger. So instead of choosing what we know is the better thing for us, we eat the junk food and forgo the workout. Essentially, we give up the thing we really want because our desire for it weakens. Somehow we forget how good it actually is.

The same can be said of our walk with the Lord as far too often our desires for the things of this world trump our desire for the things of God. For instance, as much as we want to cultivate a growing relationship with our Heavenly Father, there are many moments when we instead more strongly desire the mindless entertainment of television or social media over time spent in the Word or prayer. Or more simply, we come to desire the entanglements of sin more than our relationship with Jesus.

The heart of the matter is, we are a people prone to wander when we lose sight of the glory of God. In turn, our desire for Him fades and we forget our first love. C.S. Lewis put it this way: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

What then can be done?

Perhaps we can take our cue from Robert Robinson, the author of one of my favorite hymns, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. In the hymn he writes:

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be

Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee

Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;

Take my heart, O take and seal it, with Thy Spirit from above

From this beautiful verse, we have three great take-a-ways. First, the importance of remembering the grace of God. In our pride it’s easy to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, falling for the lies that we “deserve” to focus on ourselves and the worldly things we believe will make us happy. Rather, in humility may we see ourselves as we really are: sinners saved solely by the grace of God. When we bear this right view of ourselves our hearts cannot help but grow in admiration and affection for the author of our salvation.

Second, the more we meditate on the goodness of our Heavenly Father, the more our hearts will be bound to Him. Why? Because God’s goodness is powerful! Consider Romans 2:4, which tells us that God’s goodness leads us to repentance. Furthermore, Psalm 107:8-9 says, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (NKJV). It is His goodness that satisfies our souls. When we fully realize this, we will be far less tempted to seek our satisfaction in anything else.

Third, the need for a daily prayer of surrender. We, like Robinson, can ask God to take our hearts and seal them only for Him; for in our own power, we will certainly fail. Rather, we can pray daily for nothing to capture our hearts as the Gospel does. As did David in the Psalms, we can ask God to restore to us the joy of our salvation, confidently knowing that He will do so.

It’s no mystery that as long as we are on this earth, the desires of the flesh will always war against the desires of the Spirit. But as we daily recall the grace and goodness of God and petition Him in prayer, our desire for Him will increase and the mud pies of this world will seem less and less appealing. By the grace of God Himself, we will not wander from the God we love.

Nicole is a therapist and writer who is passionate about family, faith, and recovery. She is the author of Remade: Living Free, a book that explores topics related to substance abuse, recovery, and unhealthy relationships from a biblical perspective.

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Nicole Byrum