Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Your Desires and God’s Word
Do your desires and God’s Word seem close to one another? We do know that the psalmist prayed that God grant us our heart’s desires but that they fulfill our counsel (Psalm 20:4). That’s a great verse, but I would rather God grant us our heart’s desires and that they fulfill His counsel, not mine. I am not disagreeing with this verse, of course, because the Word of God is always true. I am only stressing adding God’s counsel as being superior to my council; I don’t think anyone would argue with that. If our desires line up with God’s desires that are found in Scripture, then our desires are more likely to be granted by God.
God’s Desires
We know that God desires that none should ever perish outside of faith in Christ (2 Pet. 3:9) and that God doesn’t take any pleasure at all in seeing the wicked die (Ezek. 18:23). But I would ask, isn’t that our desire, too? It should be. God didn’t want us to perish, so He sent His Son to die for us so that we’d have eternal life (John 3:16) and not have to have God’s wrath remain on us forever (John 3:36b). If we are in His Word more, we’ll better know God’s desires, and then we can more easily align our desires with His. Does that make sense?
Your Desires
I put our own desires last because God’s desires and what God’s Word reveals as His desires are of the first and foremost importance. I had a recent witnessing opportunity to share who Jesus was with a Muslim from the Islamic faith. He wanted to know more about Christ. I was overjoyed to share this with him and tell him Who Jesus is and why it’s so critical for Him to know about Christ. The more I shared with this man, the more questions he began to ask. In just a few short conversions with him, he finally believed and put his trust in Christ. One of my greatest passions is witnessing to atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, and anyone else who will listen. When one of them professes belief in Christ, I typically weep because one of my greatest desires and joys is to point people to the Savior in the hopes that God might save them. To me, next to being saved, there is no greater joy in life and that a desire of mine is the very same desire of God’s. So let me ask you: Are the desires of your heart the same things that line up with Scripture and the same desires of God’s heart?
A Closing Prayer
Oh Great God in heaven, thank You that Your desire was to save me and so many others with whom I have spoken about Your Great Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for placing this desire to witness to the lost, for it is You who has given me this desire, and in Jesus’ name I thank You and pray.
Amen
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