What Is Your Heart's Desire?

Dear Friends,

My friend, Gill and I’ve been enjoying an alternative SPA experience for the past 10 days or so.  Perhaps I should explain this is Gwen Smith’s Summer Psalm Adventure – the idea is to spend time in God’s word, reading 5 Psalms a day, recording, reflecting and responding. 

A few mornings back I was praying and talking over with God what I’m passionate about, my hopes and longings, those which have not yet been fulfilled in my life.  I was asking him that if these longings, or desires are really from him, as I believe they are, that he would fulfil them in my life.  I also prayed that he would help me to be patient for his timing, and asked him for the wisdom to know when I need to take action and when I need to just wait for him to open the way.

Then later that morning during my SPA time one of the Psalms I was reading was Psalm 37 and the following verse particularly struck me:

“Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

What a wonderful promise God gives us that he will give us the desires of our heart.  Of course, there is also the premise in that verse that we are firstly to take delight in God.  We can’t expect God to give us our hopes, dreams and desires if we’re choosing to live for ourselves and going our own way.

What does it mean to delight in God?  I think it’s about enjoying being in God’s presence.  It’s about really knowing God and knowing his love for me and in turn loving him.  How do I get to know and love him more?  By spending time in his presence.

I take great delight in being with Jason and my children, it’s not necessarily about doing something with them, but it is about being together, enjoying each other’s company.  It’s the same with me and God.  

I think there’s also some great advice in the following verses which are applicable to taking delight in God and God giving us our heart’s desires:

1.      Commit everything you do to the Lord. v5 This is about committing myself to God – all that I am, my will, my desires, my ambitions, giving him my all, surrendering to him and his will and what he wants for me.

2.      Trust him, and he will help you. v5 When I commit myself to God and trust him for everything then I have nothing to fear or worry about as I know he is in control of my life.  I can have trust in him and his word because he is always faithful.  I know that I can trust him with my whole being, including my dreams and ambitions, I have confidence that he is my help, my guide, the one who shows me the way forward and which path to take.

3.      Be still in the presence of the Lord, v7. Taking delight in God is also about being still in his presence, taking the time to listen to him and learn what his plans and hopes for my life are.

4.      Wait patiently for him to act. v7 During this time I need to wait for God to act and to wait patiently which is not easy.  God knows that it’s good for me to wait patiently.  Only he knows when the right time to act is.  I can so easily get carried away with what I would like to happen, that I can act too soon.  Waiting on God stops me from acting too soon and also prepares me for when the time is right.  Waiting gives me time to align my desires with God’s desires, it gives God opportunity to show me where I may have got it wrong and point me in the right direction.  Waiting on God can also deepen my confidence and dependence in God’s word and his will so that I can hold firm to the desires that God places in my heart.

To Think About:

What is the desire of your heart?

Which of those 4 points mentioned above to do you believe God is particularly drawing your attention to?

What will you do about it?

 

Vicki