"Our Lord Finds Our Desires Are Not Too Strong, But Too Weak"

"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." C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.

It seems strange to think about our desires being too weak, but when you think about it, what C.S. Lewis is saying is true. We give in to temptation because we do not have strong enough desires.  Thus, when we drink our sorrows away, we are taking the easy way out. When we give in to have relationship after relationship without any true commitment, we are giving in to momentary happiness in exchange for the deep love and joy of marriage.  Whenever we give in to temptation, we are settling for the mud puddle, when God wants us to be able to play at the sea shore.

I have been thinking recently that one of the most important characteristic that we must always have as Christians is the ability to have the long view about life.  When we have the long view of life, we are able to have a deep seated joy that is not based on circumstances. It is not based on circumstances because ultimately we know what the outcome is and that outcome is a holiday at the beach.

When are here on earth, we always have to have the long view and live with the next world in mind.  When we are struggling here on earth, we need to always keep in mind the benefits of suffering and our future glory.  When things are going well in life, we need to keep the future in mind and not be complacent.

The other aspect of this quote that is so important is that much of our suffering we would not consider suffering if we were able to see what God was doing.  We are content in our mud puddle making pies, when God wants to take us to the sea shore.  We kick and scream when He takes us away from the mud puddle because we are happy there, but He has so much more in mind for us.