Something that the Lord has been teaching me lately is all about the desires of my heart. A few months ago I wrote about those desires here and I had a HUGE response from so many people sharing their stories and encouragement along with their prayers. It is one of my most frequently visited blogs to date.
I have heard the phrase/scripture "He will give you the desires of your heart" quoted so many times. I've even said it to others before. We often use this to encourage people that don't have their lives together or those who wish their lives were different. We use it as a cliche to make people feel better about their lives and situations. But do we really, fully understand what that means? I mean are we really thinking that God is some vending machine or Santa-like figure giving us all the things that we want? If our desire is to have a million dollars or extreme wealth because that will solve all of life's problems, do we honestly think that God will give us that?
I have heard the phrase/scripture "He will give you the desires of your heart" quoted so many times. I've even said it to others before. We often use this to encourage people that don't have their lives together or those who wish their lives were different. We use it as a cliche to make people feel better about their lives and situations. But do we really, fully understand what that means? I mean are we really thinking that God is some vending machine or Santa-like figure giving us all the things that we want? If our desire is to have a million dollars or extreme wealth because that will solve all of life's problems, do we honestly think that God will give us that?
The Lord has been showing me that so many of us miss the surrounding verses that are so KEY to the truth of this word. Here is the full text.
Psalm 37 English Standard Version (ESV)
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
This verse is a conditional statement, sometimes referred to as an IF/THEN statement as in If you do this, this will happen. You might recall another conditional statement in scripture, you know the Honor your father & mother {the your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you} one.
So if we are to read this as a conditional statement it goes to reason that God doesn't just give us the desires of our heart. We have to do something first.
The scripture directly before states, "Delight yourself in the Lord". But let's back up even further. It says, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness."
Ok, so first we have to "Trust in the Lord". Trust is a really difficult thing. Dictionary.com defines trust as reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc of a person or thing; confident expectation of something; hope. So with this in mind, do you really truly Trust in the Lord? If you can answer yes, then let's move forward.
"And do good". Are you doing something with your life that the Lord would see as good? Are you serving in ministry; involved in outreach programs; loving the lost, hungry, poor, lonely, widows and children?
If you can √ that off your list, let's move on to the next part, "dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness". Charles H. Spurgeon's Treasury of David states, "In "the land" which floweth with milk and honey; the Canaan of the covenant. Thou shalt not wander in the wilderness of murmuring, but abide in the promised land of content and rest." When we dwell in the land that God has given us, we are walking in that freedom, relying and trusting in His provision and leading; we are content in Him. "Befriend faithfulness" is simply to be faithful. Make that your lifestyle.
Next up is the good stuff! That's right! "Delight yourself in the Lord". Dictionary.com says that delight is a verb meaning to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly. We are to please the Lord with our lives, with our actions, our thoughts, our choices. I also looked up the original Hebrew word used for delight, which according to Strong's Concordance is `anag which means to be soft and pliable. We are also to be moldable to His will and His plan for our lives. The Bible says that we are clay in the Potter's Hands. We are to bend to Him but if we are truly doing all these things, we will WANT to please the Lord.
Finally, when we have done all of these things, our reward (not the reason) is "He will give you the desires of your heart". Now as we have molded ourselves to Him and we have found delight in pleasing the Lord, we are walking in the freedom He has given us and are trusting Him for all of our provision then the desires of our heart are His Desires for us. We want the things that He wants. He will literally give those desires to us by placing them in our hearts. In fact, Ezekiel says He will give us a new heart.
We think of our desires as having a specific interpretation. For example, my heart's desire is to raise children with an understanding of who God is and that He loves them unconditionally. Now I can interpret my desire to indicate that I am to give birth to children and raise them in a godly home. And while that is still a possibility, I can still "raise" children with that understanding without giving birth. In fact, I'm doing that now through my ministry with YWAM San Diego/Baja and the Little Builders Preschool. God's desire is that no child be left alone and that all His children know Him. He has given me His desire and in turn has given me the fulfillment of my desire.
Hopefully all of this makes sense. If you have any questions or need clarification, please don't hesitate to comment or contact me.
So if we are to read this as a conditional statement it goes to reason that God doesn't just give us the desires of our heart. We have to do something first.
The scripture directly before states, "Delight yourself in the Lord". But let's back up even further. It says, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness."
Ok, so first we have to "Trust in the Lord". Trust is a really difficult thing. Dictionary.com defines trust as reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc of a person or thing; confident expectation of something; hope. So with this in mind, do you really truly Trust in the Lord? If you can answer yes, then let's move forward.
"And do good". Are you doing something with your life that the Lord would see as good? Are you serving in ministry; involved in outreach programs; loving the lost, hungry, poor, lonely, widows and children?
If you can √ that off your list, let's move on to the next part, "dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness". Charles H. Spurgeon's Treasury of David states, "In "the land" which floweth with milk and honey; the Canaan of the covenant. Thou shalt not wander in the wilderness of murmuring, but abide in the promised land of content and rest." When we dwell in the land that God has given us, we are walking in that freedom, relying and trusting in His provision and leading; we are content in Him. "Befriend faithfulness" is simply to be faithful. Make that your lifestyle.
Next up is the good stuff! That's right! "Delight yourself in the Lord". Dictionary.com says that delight is a verb meaning to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly. We are to please the Lord with our lives, with our actions, our thoughts, our choices. I also looked up the original Hebrew word used for delight, which according to Strong's Concordance is `anag which means to be soft and pliable. We are also to be moldable to His will and His plan for our lives. The Bible says that we are clay in the Potter's Hands. We are to bend to Him but if we are truly doing all these things, we will WANT to please the Lord.
Finally, when we have done all of these things, our reward (not the reason) is "He will give you the desires of your heart". Now as we have molded ourselves to Him and we have found delight in pleasing the Lord, we are walking in the freedom He has given us and are trusting Him for all of our provision then the desires of our heart are His Desires for us. We want the things that He wants. He will literally give those desires to us by placing them in our hearts. In fact, Ezekiel says He will give us a new heart.
We think of our desires as having a specific interpretation. For example, my heart's desire is to raise children with an understanding of who God is and that He loves them unconditionally. Now I can interpret my desire to indicate that I am to give birth to children and raise them in a godly home. And while that is still a possibility, I can still "raise" children with that understanding without giving birth. In fact, I'm doing that now through my ministry with YWAM San Diego/Baja and the Little Builders Preschool. God's desire is that no child be left alone and that all His children know Him. He has given me His desire and in turn has given me the fulfillment of my desire.
Hopefully all of this makes sense. If you have any questions or need clarification, please don't hesitate to comment or contact me.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and hear about my life as a full-time missionary. It's not an easy life but it is very rewarding. If you liked this blog post, perhaps you would like to read more like them. Below are a few I think you might like:
Make sure you also check out all of the other stories through our YWAM Ministries.
Want to join us for the next quarter? Check out all of our awesome upcoming schools that you can be a part of! Head on over to our newly designed website to find out more. If you have questions, let me know!
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- It's My Birthday ...
- What's the Hardest Thing About Raising Support?
- The Difference Between 31 & 16 Pesos
- Missionary Life: The Dreaded ASK
- God Gave Me a FitBig
- Unity, Not Division - Video Blog
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- YWAM Ministry Spotlight: Homes of Hope, 25 Years Strong
- Weekend Plans?
- YWAM Ministry Spotlight: Preschool aka Out of the Mouths of Babes
Make sure you also check out all of the other stories through our YWAM Ministries.
Want to join us for the next quarter? Check out all of our awesome upcoming schools that you can be a part of! Head on over to our newly designed website to find out more. If you have questions, let me know!
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