HA! I know what you're thinking. You read the title and thought, "Whoa, what's she writing about now?" Well, you'd be wrong. I've been thinking a lot about desire lately and not the kind between man and woman......or woman and chocolate. LOL! I'm talking about those deep desires of our heart. Those longings and yearnings that bring physical pain and cause our spirit to groan.
When our spirit aches, when our very being longs for some elusive desire, what are we to do? The bible tells us in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." I believe this means that He places within each of our hearts specific desires. I also believe that if He places that longing within us, that He will bring it to fruition in His timing and in His way. It may not look exactly as we imagined. It may not come at the time we feel best. But we need to stand ready. We need to grasp the promise that the God of love has our best in mind. There may be suffering along the way, but He walks with us and holds our hand. We need to "delight [ourselves] in the Lord," not only when the road is smooth, but especially when it's strewn with heartache and pitfalls. That's when we need to say "Blessed be the name of the Lord." For when we stand firm, with arms raised and open wide, only then can He rain down His blessing.
And He wants to bless us! He has given us desires in our hearts that he will fulfill in His time according to His plan. And as we wait, we know that "those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" - Isaiah 40:31. So let's wait for Him, let's rest in Him. And not only will we find strength, but we will soar!
When our spirit aches, when our very being longs for some elusive desire, what are we to do? The bible tells us in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." I believe this means that He places within each of our hearts specific desires. I also believe that if He places that longing within us, that He will bring it to fruition in His timing and in His way. It may not look exactly as we imagined. It may not come at the time we feel best. But we need to stand ready. We need to grasp the promise that the God of love has our best in mind. There may be suffering along the way, but He walks with us and holds our hand. We need to "delight [ourselves] in the Lord," not only when the road is smooth, but especially when it's strewn with heartache and pitfalls. That's when we need to say "Blessed be the name of the Lord." For when we stand firm, with arms raised and open wide, only then can He rain down His blessing.
And He wants to bless us! He has given us desires in our hearts that he will fulfill in His time according to His plan. And as we wait, we know that "those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" - Isaiah 40:31. So let's wait for Him, let's rest in Him. And not only will we find strength, but we will soar!
7 comments:
First time in the Coffee Stop. Really enjoyed your take on desire. Our desire sould be in the Lord and what pleases Him.
My desire is also like yours - coffee. But I really enjoy a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain Grown coffee. If I can talk you into coming to my house for a cup I know I will win you over as well. It is a smooth coffee.
dm
You're talking right to my heart. Thanks for listening & understanding yesterday.
I would love to have some coffee tomorrow noon!
at
How do you "delight in the Lord"?
Well...I will shout a HUGE AMEN to this post Shauna! Glad you posted it! Keep them coming.
dm, I'm glad you dropped by the Coffee Stop and I hope to see you popping in from time to time. Smooth coffee?? I'm there! Jamaican Blue Mountain Grown coffee......sounds wonderful!
at, Our talk yesterday obviously inspired this post. My heart aches for you! It's obvious that God is doing amazing things in you and your courage in facing this head-on, when so many people choose to hide, shows a maturity beyond your years! I'm looking forward to our coffee tomorrow. Anytime is good for me.
Anonymous, you raise an interesting question, one I debated answering when I originally posted this blog. I looked up the word "delight" in an on-line dictionary and this is what it said:
delight
noun
1. a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction;
2. something or someone that provides pleasure; a source of happiness;
verb
1. give pleasure to or be pleasing to;
2. take delight in;
3. hold spellbound
WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University
I believe that to "delight yourself in the Lord" means to take pleasure in Him, to be spellbound, to be so in love with our creator that everything else fades in comparison. To be in love with someone, you need to know them, to spend time with them. Likewise, we need to draw near to God and the closer we get the more He reveals himself to us. And the more we see and understand of Him, the more He fills our hearts! His plans for us become clearer and the desires of our hearts revealed.
This is what I believe it means to "delight in the Lord." Someone else may be able to give you a more scholarly answer, but this is the answer of my heart.
And Miss, thanks for being a faithful commenter! It's nice to know someone out there will read my musings!
Here it is late in the evening when it would be best to be going to sleep. I finally have found some time to read this blog. It gives lots to think about, especially when you've had one of those days that is filled with busyness. There are so many good thing to do that it is easy to forget to take the time to spend falling in love with our God on a personal level. It's amazing how much better and easier it is to carry on when you are delighting yourself in the Lord. This has been my life verse for most of my life. What follows in the next verse is to also commit our ways to the Lord which means we have to do our part to receive the desires of our heart. Commitment is the believe that God has our best interest at heart and that is what keeps things in perspective. I have no idea as to the conversation that promted this post, so I hope this isn't off course to where you had your thoughts going. I love your take on Psalm 37:4.
ym
ym, thanks for your comment! And thank you for bringing up the commitment on our part that is needed to receive our desires and blessings from Him.
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