There have been two passages that recently have shown up in things I've read, things I've listened to, and conversations I've had with people. And they continually are coming up..so I am thinking God might be trying to say something to me.
The first one is Psalm 37:4:
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
At first glance, this is seemingly quite simple. I remember way back when I read this verse, I liked the idea that God would satisfy my desires. I thought it was cool that God knew my desires and would give them to me. Almost like God was a genie. I wished for something, He would give it to me.
But, I don't think that is it at all. I read this now and consider what does it really mean to delight myself in the Lord? I think it means pursuing the life God created for me and ceasing the pursuit of a life I create for myself.
If I am pursuing the life God created for me, of course he will satisfy the desires of my heart, because my desires are His desires for me. On the contrary, I don't think God is going to give me all the desires of my heart when I am leading a life that is delighting completely in myself, in my plan, in my way of doing things.
I also think it's cool that when we're delighting in the Lord, when we are actively pursuing the life God has planned for us, we can trust our desires. We can trust them because they come from God. Put plainly, if I were given all the desires of my heart while I am pursuing my own plan for my life, I am pretty convinced my life would be one gigantic mess of consequences and conflict.
I think it's nuts that for so long, I pursued my own life plan, thinking that in some way I could do a better job than God. I filled my time with worthless relationships that went nowhere, spent money on stuff that was completely wasteful, and passed on a life that God promised me would be abundant. A life where he would give me all the desires of my heart.
Well, I choose that no longer. I know I'm never going to be perfect, but I am going to do my best to actively pursue the life God has planned for me. I am going to delight in the Lord. And I'm going to pray hard for the courage and boldness to do so.
As for the second passage...hopefully I'll get to writing about it tomorrow. If not, perhaps later in the week :-)
The first one is Psalm 37:4:
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
At first glance, this is seemingly quite simple. I remember way back when I read this verse, I liked the idea that God would satisfy my desires. I thought it was cool that God knew my desires and would give them to me. Almost like God was a genie. I wished for something, He would give it to me.
But, I don't think that is it at all. I read this now and consider what does it really mean to delight myself in the Lord? I think it means pursuing the life God created for me and ceasing the pursuit of a life I create for myself.
If I am pursuing the life God created for me, of course he will satisfy the desires of my heart, because my desires are His desires for me. On the contrary, I don't think God is going to give me all the desires of my heart when I am leading a life that is delighting completely in myself, in my plan, in my way of doing things.
I also think it's cool that when we're delighting in the Lord, when we are actively pursuing the life God has planned for us, we can trust our desires. We can trust them because they come from God. Put plainly, if I were given all the desires of my heart while I am pursuing my own plan for my life, I am pretty convinced my life would be one gigantic mess of consequences and conflict.
I think it's nuts that for so long, I pursued my own life plan, thinking that in some way I could do a better job than God. I filled my time with worthless relationships that went nowhere, spent money on stuff that was completely wasteful, and passed on a life that God promised me would be abundant. A life where he would give me all the desires of my heart.
Well, I choose that no longer. I know I'm never going to be perfect, but I am going to do my best to actively pursue the life God has planned for me. I am going to delight in the Lord. And I'm going to pray hard for the courage and boldness to do so.
As for the second passage...hopefully I'll get to writing about it tomorrow. If not, perhaps later in the week :-)
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