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The Journey of Desire: Searching for the Life We've Only Dreamed of

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While meeting with a friend at Barnes and Noble, I shared with him a recent experience I had that caused me considerable disappointment and grief. After listening to my story, he disappeared for a few minutes, and when he returned he set a book on the table and told me I had to read it. The book was The Journey of Desire by John Elderidge.

I took my friend's word for it and read the book. He was right! I did need to read the book. I do not recall ever reading a book that seemed to speak directly to me as this one did. If prior to his writing this book, I had sat down with Elderidge and shared specific details of my life with him, I do not think he could have written a book that speaks to me more than The Journey of Desire does.

In The Journey of Desire, Elderidge delves into the mystery of redemptive life in a fallen world. He speaks to the disappointment and disillusionment that Christians experience as we try to live the life we desire and have known only in our dreams. He writes, "We all know the dilemma of desire, how awful it feels to open our hearts to joy only to have grief come in. They go together. We know that. What we don't know is what to do with it, how to live in this world with desire so deep in us and disappointment lurking behind every corner."(23)

Elderidge teaches the reader to examine his or her heart and to discern whether there is still hunger and thirst for the heart's desires or whether grief and disappointment have caused apathy and complacence. The book works to resurrect the God-inspired heart's desires that we all possess.

Elderidge reminds us that the greatest enemy to holiness is not passion but apathy. He wants to help us direct our passions toward God and away from the many temptations in the world that serve to anesthetize and pervert our desires rather than fulfill them.

One of the biggest lessons that Elderidge expounds upon is that no matter how hard we try to find life in the things of this world we cannot. We cannot create or design the perfect life that satisfies all of our heart's desires. Elderidge writes that we must receive that abundant life from God.

The journey of desire is also the battle of desire. The battle is to guard our hearts, to keep our passions alive and pure, and to focus our desires on the Creator. Elderidge counsels us to remember that we are eternal people. Jesus went away to prepare a place for us. It is not here, and we must refrain from trying to create our place here rather than being eternally-minded.

The book teaches that some Christians may have retreated from seeking, asking and knocking for the fulfillment of desires; instead, they are suppressing, numbing and distorting desires in a futile attempt to live without pain, grief or disappointment. The path Elderidge suggests we take is one of trust. Elderidge encourages us to trust God enough to faithfully ask him to clarify, intensify, and satisfy our heart's desires.

Elderidge emphasizes the true nature of our eternal relationship with Jesus. He writes that it is a love affair; it is a romance that will find its fulfillment only when we find our fulfillment in paradise.

Because I believe that much of what is true for me is true to some extent for most if not all Christians, I can sincerely say to you that I believe you need to read this book.

Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

I have now read all three of the books in the Sacred Romance series. The last two volumes authored by John Eldridge are far superior to the first volume co-authored with the late Brent Curtis. It appears God has used the painful, tragic death of a close friend to make a much better writer of John Eldridge.

This work is not so much about desire for life in itself, but rather about the lack of desire for life and the regaining of it. Eldridge speaks of a passion for living, and how multitudes of Christians have lost it by settling for little or no passion at all. The author takes the reader through a literary journey to recapture the deepest desire of one's heart, which is ultimately nothing less than a love relationship with God himself.

I enthusiastically recommend this book and the third book in the Sacred Romance series, "Wild at Heart." The author is Scriptural, spiritual, and sound theologically. Your devotional life will be greatly enhanced as a result of reading them.

From reading the publisher's review above (I wonder if they even read this book) one would have no idea how paradigm-busting this book is. The author takes off on themes that remind me of John Piper's Future Grace, but in my estimation the implications and potential for life change goes way beyond it.

The author quotes Gerald May, "There is a desire within each of us, in the deep center of ourselves that we call heart. We were born with it, it is never completely satisfied, and it never dies. We are often unaware of it, but it is always awake... Our true identity, our reason for being, is to be found in this desire."

Power to move us, to sustain us, is found in the well of our own desire.

From the flyleaf: "The modern church often teaches people to kill desire and call that sanctification. The author writes, "Christianity is not an invitation to become a moral person. It is not a program for getting us in line or for reforming society... at its core, Christianity begins with an invitation to desire."

He shows that there are only three options for dealing with our desire: (I'm paraphrasing) 1) distract it, 2) Deaden it, 3) Get to know it. The world shouts to distract, sadly most often the Church works to deaden it. Wholeness is found in embracing our desires as God given, and with it, the pain of unfulfilled dreams.

Through this book, I personally experienced a sort of death and resurrection. Death to what John calls "arranging for our life" and a new life of rest and adventure, now exploring my deep desires as a journey into the heart of God without distraction. While Journey of Desire is absolutely mind-blowing it is also very readable. This is a powerful little book!

The book was absolutely excellent. For any Christian who is seeking to live his/her life with authenticity and integrity, this book will be like a glass of refreshing water for you. It asks us not only to be honest about who we are, what we really want, but why we want it. And this honesty will in turn lead us to the only Person who is capable of fulfilling our deepest desires.

God used this book to teach me that I can live life to the fullest because all my desires are met in going to God. Eldredge touches on how life becomes dull and even depressing when we are fearful of desire...when we kill desire in an effort to be "pure." I learned in a new way that purity means allowing God to show us TRUE desire. We can enjoy an honest, open relationship with God, and we can live life to the potential God intended. Eldredge gives insight into the desires that we've chased after--reminding that worldly passions will fade and leave us restless, still in need of God's touch of love. It's a must-read, especially for those who have given up on their dreams.

All my life I 've searched for the answer to my unending misery and disappointment. I believe in Christ but have largely bought into mistaken ideas that being a Christian is all about doing the right thing. No one's advocating doing the wrong things, but simply put, I want more, much more. I want to know God. At last I'm finding the words in print that explain my inner uncomfortability and help me understand what the Gospels are trying to say to me and mankind. I believe it is possible I have for the most part missed the true message. this book has helped me discover what my heart hunger has been trying to tell me for almost 30 years.

After many conversations lamenting that "Maybe my desires are too strong and there's something wrong with me", a good friend recommended this book to me. From the moment I picked up "The Journey of Desire" and read the continuing story of the sea lion (reminded me of myself) all the way to the last poignant line, I was deeply touched by this book. Never have I encountered such passionate and insightful writing about life's journey. What really shocked me was how every chapter seemed to parallel what was going on in my life at that very moment. I was challenged, amused, relieved, and most of all, hopeful by the time I was done reading this book. I encourage anyone who is disturbed by the anesthetizing of our society to invest in this book. Make sure you find a quiet place to soak up all the richness Eldredge is going to serve up to your literary palette. I only wish I could thank you in person for writing this, John, but I guess this review will have to do. Thanks.

If you have lost your desire somewhere on the journey, this is a must-read. I read it all in one gulp! Now I'm going back to savor each chapter. Having read Curtis and Eldredge's last book, "The Sacred Romance," I wondered how they could top that one. John Eldredge hit one out of the park with this one! I loved his use of stories, especially the story of the Sea Lion. It alone is worth the price of the book. Not only had I lost my desire, I had been trying to fulfill it with things that could never, and will never fulfill it in this life. Eldredge has done a great service to the body of Christ to re-tell the Christian Story as a romance filled with ecstasy and wooed on by desire for Jesus, our Bridegroom.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this" (Psalm 37:4-5). I had heard this verse several times in my life, but never really understood it. The verse sounded really good, but I didn't actually believe it. I thought I was following God, but I sure wasn't getting any of the desires of my heart. Then, through a series of events, I discovered this verse to actually be true. I had never really delighted myself in the Lord, I had fooled myself into believing I was when in reality I was only delighting others and not necessarily God.

The last several years have been difficult and it has seemed that my desires have been put on hold. I have truly been following and delighting in the Lord, but very few of my desires have been given to me.

Then I read this book. I'm very glad I did. Several years ago (right around the time I began to understand Psalm 37:4), I read Eldredge and Curtis' THE SACRED ROMANCE. That book really inspired me and contained many ideas I had been trying to grapple in my mind. THE JOURNEY OF DESIRE is a wonderful follow up to THE SACRED ROMANCE. Though not explicitly doing so, it continues where THE SACRED ROMANCE left off.

We live in a fallen world that is continuing to decay. All things were once good and beautiful, but now everything (including desire) carries the tint of sin. Life is difficult, no journey is easy. But we do have a choice: we can either choose to just exist or choose to live or in the words of a famous film we can either "get busy living or get busy dying." Eldredge thoroughly examines that choice in this book. His words are refreshing for sojourners tired from the journey and his perspective and ideas are enlightening. A worthy work.

St. Augustine once said of God, "We are meant for thee, and our hearts are ever restless until they meet their rest in thee." John Elderdge has done an astonishingly good book on finding the true desire of the heart, that elusive call of "Joy" which C.S. Lewis so ably spoke about.
From the opening words of his parable of the Sea Lion, which is worth the entire book, he guides the reader through that desire which is in the hearts of those who belong to Christ, and directs them to the One for whom that desire points.
As Elderdge points out, the problem most Christians have is not that their desires are too strong, but they are too weak. We mess around with things that don't amount to a hill of beans, while infinite joy is offered us.
It is well worth reading, and an eye-opener. It should awaken even the most lethargic soul.