Psalm 37:4 ‘Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.’
What are some of the things you want? Do you want a new job? A spouse? Children? Do you want to drive on the Autobahn? Visit Hawaii? Do you want the house to clean itself or someone to cook for you? Do you want an addict to become unaddicted? Do you want healing for yourself or someone else? Do you want a position? Do you want to overcome a specific behavior? Do you want restoration in a relationship? Do you want to play the piano, learn German or be a better golfer?
We all want things. Some of us even want to stop wanting. Our wants have to be measured in accordance with God’s truth. Are these things, He wants for us?
Wanting generally represents a desire for change. We are unsatisfied with current situations and circumstances.
As an overweight teenager, I would lie in bed at night praying to wake up skinny. I wanted skinny – but not enough to work for it. God answered my cries for skinny by increasing my desire to work for it. James 2:17 reminds us ‘So also faith by itself if it does not have works, is dead.’ My faith that God can do anything (even wake someone up skinny) needed to be accompanied by my works; my diet and my exercise.
What are you wanting to see happen in your life? Does it line up with His will for you? Do you want it enough to work for it? Are you willing to save your money, put the time in, seek forgiveness, surrender your comfort?
God may be calling you to learn a foreign language so you can come alongside someone in their native language. You may be praying for a Godly spouse but are you growing yourself into a Godly spouse? The rewards for doing the work are far greater than always to be found wanting. Will you join me in asking Him (Psalm 32:8) to guide us and counsel us in our wants, with His loving eye on us?
Father God, we thank You for blessing us more than we deserve. We ask that You would remove the things we want that are not of You and ask You to give us a strong desire to work for the ones that are of you. We love and thank You Lord Jesus, You are the One and Only, True and Living God. In Your Name, we pray. Amen.