The Seven Longings of the Human Heart - Week #9

Chapter Seven – The Longing to Make a Deep and Lasting Impact

This is the final chapter of this book, and for the sake of review, I’ll list the seven distinct longings that Mike Bickle presents in the book:
1. The longing to be enjoyed by God
2. The longing for fascination
3. The longing for beauty
4. The longing for greatness
5. The longing for intimacy without shame
6. The longing to be wholehearted
7. The longing to make a deep and lasting impact

These longings are, in part, what make up our humanity. We are made in God’s image, and these are legitimate desires that reflect desires in His personality; these longings are not to be repented of, but the ways and means by which we seek to fulfill them are to be repented of.

Related to the longing to make a deep and lasting impact, the author says,

“Intuitively, people desire to make an impact. Most cannot bear the thought that the extent of their existence could be summed up in a few lines chiseled on a gravestone. There must be more. Knowing that we have limited time in this life, we all long to make a difference that will last far beyond our moment in time…we are wired to make an impact for all eternity.

“God designed us to desperately want to make a difference in the lives of others. We need to know we are making a contribution that is significant to God and one He esteems and remembers forever…Working together with Jesus to awaken other hearts in love is essential to our emotional health. (3 John 4)…The desire to exhilarate others with good news is fundamental to our humanity.”

Bickle goes on to say how all of us love to be part of something that excites and exhilarates someone we love, such as a surprise gift or good news about a breakthrough that just happened (whether that be something in the spiritual or the natural realm).

Surprisingly, the way to making eternal impact is through being faithful in small things (Luke 19:17; Matt. 25:21):

“God has called us to be faithful in small things, which tells us that small things are relevant because they are esteemed and remembered by God. He evaluates and rewards our lives in eternity based on the small things we have done in this age…We easily become preoccupied with seeking what looks and feels significant to us while devaluing faithfulness in the small things. However, eternal impact is mainly achieved through our faithfulness in small things…”

God has called us to partner with Him in sharing with others that which we have discovered in Him. As soon as we discover something wonderful of Him, we immediately want to pass that on. “The idea of changing the trajectory of another person’s life is irresistible.” Just the thought that I could help another person toward Jesus is thrilling!

We fulfill this call through influence; most of us have no idea how much influence we have on others. The reality is that those that most impact others are not those who get in the news because of one big attention-getting act but are those who day after day are faithful in small gestures.

“From God’s perspective, influence is usually released with a whisper. It is the kind word spoken to the harried co-worker. It is the glance of approval or the word of appreciation given to an eager child or a friend. Its power lies not in volume or shock value but in consistency and sincerity…While we may be temporarily wowed by stage presence and pizzazz, deep within we are impacted most by the people who walk out their commitments with daily consistency. This approach to life is the one valued by God. It is called faithfulness and it operates in meekness.”

So, consistently serving others in meekness is God’s way of impacting others, and He remembers and rewards this well (Heb. 6:10; Matt. 10:42).

However, it’s not enough to impact others in this life; we long for lasting and eternal impact, and the good news is that this is where we have the greatest potential for impact…

”Many Christians divorce their actions in this life from their impact in the next. The Second Coming of Christ has been portrayed as some sort of cosmic delete button…Scripture, however, makes it clear that there is a lot of continuity between the two timeframes. What we do as Christians now will matter then…we are building relationships, honing skills and shaping our characters in practical ways that will make a significant difference in eternity. As we fashion our lives in this age, we must keep in mind the greatness of the age to come and that the small things done in obedience and meekness now will result in greatness and impact then.”

The Sermon on the Mount presents the Kingdom lifestyle of fasting and prayer, giving and serving others and blessing our enemies. All of this counts towards eternity; when we begin to grasp the ultimate meaning of the small things we do now, we will view what we do now in a radically different light. All the ground we gain now will have continuity in the next age when we partner with Jesus to cleanse and rebuild the earth for the coming of the Father after 1,000 years.

In the conclusion of the book, the author says, “Your longings, if you let them, will be what draw you into the Divine. Like separate streams, each of these seven longings is an escort into the eternal ocean of God’s fiery affections.”

I remember many years ago when someone said to me, “I’ve learned that when I am feeling lonely, it is because I’m wanting God.” And she learned to turn to Him instead of to the substitute loves that we have all turned to, whether that be human relationships, or addictions of all sorts, or ministry, etc.

So, Lord, I pray that You will come by Your Spirit and quicken us to recognize our longing for You when we begin seeking fulfillment in secondary loves. You are the Fountain and Bread of Life that satisfies our hunger and thirst. Fill us with the knowledge of You…thank You, dear Lord.

(Just a reminder that until August I will send out simple postings each week and then we will start on Roy Hession’s beautiful little book, We Would See Jesus. God bless you!)