Reading my Catholic Women’s Devotional Bible, I come across the story of Bathsheba. The story opens with this:

Bathsheba squeezed the sponge moving it across her body in even rhythms as though to calm the restless cadence of her thoughts. Normally she looked forward to the ritual bath marking the end of her monthly period, but tonight the water soothed her skin without refreshing her spirit.

She should be glad for the cool breeze. For a lush harvest. But spring, the season of armies and battles, could also yield its crop of sorrows. Though her husband Uriah was a seasoned soldier, she still worried, wishing she could fall asleep in his arms. But he was camped with the king’s army some 40 miles north-east of Jerusalem.

Though Bathsheba was a woman from so long ago, I was surprised how much her story resonated with me. Sometimes, as if the body has a mind of its own, a desire arises out of nowhere, when all I intended was to bathe and clean myself. Other times, thoughts of worry and pining blind me to every good gift that is already present, sparking decline into a lust for that which is not mine to have.

How does godly desire differ from persistent lust?

David rose from his bed, unable to sleep. Pacing across the palace roof, he gazed at the city below. In the half-light he noticed the figure of a young woman, bathing in the garden below him. Wet hair curling languidly against skin white as lamb’s wool. Breasts like rounded apples. He reached as though to steal a touch.

Even if it were just an imaginary touch, David was led to steal what does not belong to him. This is in contrast with our God’s love for us, expressed through the wisdom of Solomon, who says in 11:24 —For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made, for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.

While lust steals and destroys, a godly desire nurtures and creates. God uses our deepest, most authentic longings to steady our heart and cultivate patience, whereas lust breeds impatience and dishonesty, welcoming evil. A properly placed desire is courageous, visionary and blessed with expansive creativity, whereas lust entraps and creates tunnel-vision, shutting out every good possibility.

Knowing God’s wondrous love, I begin to ask myself, each time I feel tempted to slide into the whirlpool of sin: God’s love intends for me to bear fruit. Will what I do now bear fruit?

In times of stress, when my need for relief sometimes brings me back towards toxic habits, I picture Jesus walking in the desert for 40 days. I think about my fellow Christians, fasting to pray for the souls in purgatory. I see how I can lift up my stress and suffering as an offering to God, and as a prayer for my brothers and sisters, instead of taking the easy—and irresponsible—way out.

In Song of Solomon, 8:6 it says: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. God fights my battles. He is a seal upon my heart. He knows that I sometimes look for the right things in the wrong places. Gently he leads me towards the life-giving waters instead. For He has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future.

By Serene Frances

• Do you know what are the God-given desires of your heart?
• How has God’s love strengthened you against sin?
• What do you know of God’s love from the Bible?