I read a great post recently on the LIVESTRONG blog talking about how to be successful in achieving New Year’s resolutions. In the post, it states:

“Changing your body, losing weight, gaining muscle, quitting smoking—every goal you desire will be difficult to achieve. At some point, you’re going to hit a bump in the road, be confronted with a challenge, and begin to doubt your ability to make real, lasting change. When that happens, don’t ignore your frustration.  Instead, acknowledge your anger. Channel your frustration and ask yourself one simple question: HOW BADLY DO I WANT THIS?”

While this article was aimed squarely at health and wellness goals, I saw a lot of application to my spiritual walk as well. Real, lasting change in the way I experience God is also difficult to achieve. And I will experience bumps in the road. I already have. Many times over. And it’s made me doubt whether I can really “get there”, whether I can successfully transform my life. Well, a great question for me to continually ask myself is the same one posed by this blogger.

HOW BADLY DO I WANT THIS?

My God wants this really bad. He wants nothing more than to be in close union with me. The only question is how much I want it. I have to be broken, desperate, at the point where there’s nothing I want more. Nothing I cherish more. Nothing I long for more than Him. That explains why I’ve failed so many times in the past. I wasn’t there. I didn’t want it. Not badly enough.

My prayer for today is that I can keep my priorities in line, that I can fuel my desires appropriately. That I can stay hungry and yearn for the  closeness with Him that I’m pursuing. I want to have the right answer to the question. I don’t want to fail because I didn’t want it badly enough. Not this time.