Bob Hamp

“Why is that I keep hurting the people I love the most…”, He asked, as we set up an appointment for counseling.  

“Why can’t I stop…I don’t really like doing it, I just can’t stop?” She said as we calendared her appointment.  

The conversation took place hundreds of times, in hundreds of ways during my days in private practice.  People doing things they genuinely wish they could stop, but somehow…unable to stop…driven to act…How does this happen to us?  Let’s check it out…More important let’s see how to stop…or at least how to start stopping.  

At some level we act because we choose.  Even if it is at the last second after we have tried to resist…we choose to act…to give in.   Why would we choose to do something that we are trying so hard to quit?  The answer is easier than you might think.  We choose because we desire.  Desire…not necessarily enjoyment but Desire.  An appetite…a drive.  Something in us that drives, propels, pushes us to act.  So is desire a bad thing?  Quite the contrary, desire is a GREAT thing.  It is a powerful thing.  Informed and aimed at the right target, desire pulls us toward the things we need.  Food, water, sleep, these are all needs that our desires pull us toward.  Desire aimed rightly keeps us alive.  So we act because we desire….why do we desire?

This one is easy too.  We desire because of perception.  Right or wrong, our perception stirs our desires.  Ask any good advertising executive.  The right perception will stir desire, desire will stir action.  Here’s why this matters.  If I want to affect your actions, I don’t want to start by telling you how to act.  I want to start by influencing your perceptions. Even if I create desire, and you don’t act…I am swaying your focus…I am swaying your heart.  

So The Lover of your soul and the enemy of your soul have something in common.  They both want you to see things their way.  One very important difference exists, one will manipulate, the Other will not. 

Like Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, your adversary will use history and people and experiences to wave a a hand over your face…”These are not the droids you’re looking for” he says, and the inattentive mind looks the other way.  ”God does not love you”  he says, and our heart sinks. “Where was He when you needed Him”, he purrs   and we begin to grow angry at our perfect Father. “Your situation is hopeless…”  on and on, the lies lull our mind into agreement, perception becomes desire, and next thing we know, we do that thing we hate.  

What if these really ARE the droids you’re looking for?   What if God is head over heels in love with you?  What if He was there in your worst moment and you just couldn’t see Him?  What if you could know the Truth and the Truth could set you free.  

Think Differently