Our desires or God’s? Aren’t they the same? After all, Psalm 37:4b says, “He will give you the desires of your heart.”
I have lots of desires, don’t you? Last night, I pulled out my planner and filled in the desires of my heart for today, Thursday. In my enthusiasm, I wrote the desires of my heart, not only for today, but also for Friday and Saturday. I should have said, “God, what are your desires for Thursday? Do you want me to fill in the whole weekend or only one day?” In humility, I admit I didn’t pray and stayed up later than I should have to fill in my schedule.
You may have done this or something similar. If you did, what did you learn from it?
I learned how to distinguish between our desires and God’s desires after divorce.
First, ask God to distinguish between our desires and his.
Thursday morning, a phone call changed my schedule for a couple of hours. So much for my desire. However, I welcomed the call. I had waited for it since the day before. The woman at the other end gave me the information I needed for another project.
I ate lunch and washed my hands. Now I can get to the list of my desires for this afternoon. Before I could sit in front of my laptop, my phone rang again. The president of a local women’s organization called to see if I was available for an interview on Zoom within a few minutes.
With the pandemic in progress, I’ve prayed for online events to replace the live ones cancelled. The Spirit within me said, Remember, my daughter, you’ve prayed for this.”
After that reminder, what else could I do but drop my plans? Time to set up my laptop for a Zoom interview.
During the interview, I talked about my blog and how now I send out two posts weekly rather than one. A jolt to my memory. I hadn’t set aside time to write and schedule the second article for this week.
Second, read the Bible in context to distinguish between our desires and his.
My late Sunday school teacher used to say, “Read the Bible in context.” I reached for my Bible and looked up Psalm 37:4. Yikes. Psalm 37:4a reads, “Take delight in the Lord.” I’ve heard the second part often. Why didn’t I quote the whole verse?
“Read the Bible in context.” #Bible, #peace, #trust Share on XWhat does it mean to take delight in the Lord? It means we find fulfillment, peace, and joy in the Lord. If I love God, my desires will line up with his desires. I will be content and trust him with the details of my life. My satisfaction will come not from productivity or another spouse, but from the enjoyment of God’s presence and his desires for my life. He will bring me a second husband in his time if it is his plan.
What does it mean to take delight in the Lord? #peace, #joy Share on XFor more on this topic, click on the following links:
Internal link on my website:
How Can You Sleep When Your Head Is Spinning
External link:
https://www.gotquestions.org/delight-yourself-in-the-Lord.html
Conclusion and Next Step:
In conclusion, to distinguish between our desires and God’s
- Ask God.
- Read the Bible in context.
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Copyright © by Yvonne Ortega April 2, 2020
The glitch sometimes comes in that we don’t know what we want and don’t realize what we need because we don’t understand why we desire something. I often experience conflict when I look elsewhere for what only my Father can provide. In him I find shalom.
Jeff Adams, thank you for stopping by and sharing. Yes, that glitch can keep us from moving forward. Yes, only in our heavenly Father can we find Shalom, Peace. He is our peace.
Reading your message, I kept thinking of “More of Him, less of me.” We should live every moment for Him.
Yes, Melissa Henderson. That is right. “More of Him, less of me.” No matter what we do in life, we should live every moment for Him. Thank you by stopping by.