Stop Swimming Upstream

Picture your heart as a river. Its current is your desire. Willpower is trying to swim upstream against it. You can do it for a while, but you get tired, and the river always wins in the end.

That is why so many of our attempts to quit things fail. We fight the desire head-on with nothing but effort. A preacher long ago called the better way the expulsive power of a new affection: the way out of a lesser love is a greater one.

Scripture calls us to that greater love. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” When God is your delight, he reshapes what you want. The current itself begins to change.

David knew where the deepest joy is found: “in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Instead of only fighting what you don’t want, spend time with the One you were made to want. The river will start to turn.