“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
— [Matthew 6:33]
“It is your unlimited desires that are clouding your peace.”
— Naval Ravikant
WHEN DESIRES CLOUD YOUR PEACE
In my own life, I’ve found that the seasons in which I feel most unsettled and discontented are the seasons where my desires feel endless.
Where I’m longing for much and grateful for little.
It’s in these moments that my prayers shift subtly—no longer about aligning my will with God’s, but about asking Him to meet my vision of fruitfulness. My mind obsesses over outcomes, metrics, and visible progress. And somewhere along the way, I stop abiding and start striving.
It’s usually not blatant disobedience.
It’s misplaced focus.
I set my sights on fruit, not the Vine. I long for movement and miss moments. I hunger for evidence of impact and miss the invitation to intimacy.
I become obsessed with the next answer, the next breakthrough, the next step.
And the longer the silence stretches, the louder the lies become: You’re wasting your time. You should be further by now. God isn’t moving.
But the only viable weapon against a lie is to combat it with truth. The truth is that peace isn’t found in fulfilled longing but in faithful presence.
That Jesus never called me to control the fruit—only to remain in Him. And that every season of discontent is really a call back to dependence.
THE WEIGHT OF WANTING
We are a people of endless desire.
Our culture thrives on it. We are conditioned to believe that the next thing—the next promotion, the next achievement, the next milestone—will finally bring the satisfaction we crave.
But no matter how much we attain, the ache remains. Our ambitions, left unchecked, do not lead to fulfillment but to exhaustion.
More money. More recognition. More comfort. More success. More experiences.
Yet, with every fulfilled longing, another one arises. The appetite is never satisfied. The craving never ceases.
We were told that achieving, acquiring, and advancing would bring peace, but the truth is, it often just brings more hunger.
This isn’t a new struggle. It’s the same lie whispered in the garden: If only you had more, then you’d be fulfilled.
It’s the same illusion that drove Solomon to chase wisdom, pleasure, work, and wealth, only to declare it all “vanity and striving after wind.” [Ecclesiastes 1:14]
But Jesus offers us another way.
THE PURSUIT THAT SATISFIES
Jesus knew the human heart is restless. He knew our desires, when untethered, would consume us. So He didn’t just tell us to stop wanting—He told us to want rightly. To bring order to our disordered desires. He redirected our pursuit:
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” [Matthew 6:33]
Jesus doesn’t deny that we have needs. He acknowledges them. But He tells us that our peace is found when we stop chasing the temporary and start seeking the eternal.
When we refuse to live for our own comfort, and instead long for His will to be done and His fame to be known.
The promise isn’t that we will get everything we want. It’s that when we set our hearts on God, He will give us what we truly need.
THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL
Much of our anxiety is anchored our attempts to control outcomes.
We believe that if we can just manage the variables—secure the right job, earn enough money, get the perfect relationship—then peace will follow. But this is an exhausting way to live.
Jesus calls us to release the illusion of control and rest in His provision. He reminds us:
The birds of the air do not store up, yet the Father feeds them. [Matthew 6:26]
The lilies of the field do not labor, yet they are clothed in beauty. [Matthew 6:28-30]
Your Father knows what you need before you even ask. [Matthew 6:8]
Peace isn’t found in having everything. It’s found in trusting the One who holds everything.
If you’re anything like me, this isn’t new insight - it’s a refreshing reminder to reorient my gaze and rightly place my hope.
A BETTER DESIRE
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
What if, instead of asking for more, we asked for the right things?
Instead of asking for success, ask for faithfulness.
Instead of asking for comfort, ask for endurance.
Instead of asking for recognition, ask for a heart that delights in quiet obedience.
The reality is, our longings were never meant to be satisfied by the world.
They were meant to lead us to God.
Every unmet desire is an invitation to seek Him.
Every restless night, every lingering hunger, every “almost but not yet” moment is a whisper from heaven: Come to Me.
The world will always leave us wanting. God alone will leave us full.
When our greatest longing is God Himself, our souls will finally find rest.
A FINAL CHARGE
Unlimited desires will always leave you restless.
If you are tired of chasing, stop running.
If you are weary of striving, rest in Him.
Seek first His kingdom. Let Him be your greatest desire. Live for His fame, His will, His glory. And as you do, you will find that peace is not in having more, but in knowing the One who is enough.
The world will tell you that you must accumulate more to be whole.
Jesus has told you that you must lose your life to find it.
Stay the course. Keep your eyes on the Prince of Peace. And may your restless heart find its home in Him.
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