Delight in the Lord (Psalms 37:4)
"Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Delight yourself in the Lord
It's so tempting to brush past the first half and focus on God giving us the desires of our heart. But notice how it says, "take delight in the Lord, and..." Delighting ourselves in the Lord is a prerequisite, it must happen first before we get into the second half. But what does it mean to delight ourselves in the Lord?
- Delight in His word
-The Bible is a love letter to us, a book of hope-Read the Gospels & fall in love with Jesus-Fall in love with His life and use it as an example - Delight in obeying His word
-In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands (1 John 5:3) - Delight in prayer-Talk to Him all day, everyday!
- Delight in fellowship-No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12)
-Being apart of the body to encourage, build, and call each other higher - Delight in His kingdom-Thinking about the everlasting value knowing that this world and all we have are temporary and that God's kingdom lasts forever.
- Delight in His presence + love-Practicing thankfulness allows us to see God's hand and goodness. When life is rough and it's hard to be thankful for anything we can always fall back onto the cross. With no excuse Jesus is all we need to be thankful daily.-When we delight in His presence we stop looking at our circumstances and start looking at God. His presence is made known everyday.
The desires of our heart
Feel good Christianity often times twist this verse by focusing on "God will give you the desires of your heart!" But delighting in the Lord calls for a lot of surrender, crucifying the flesh, courage, vulnerability, and an open heart. It takes perseverance and endurance to walk the life God set out for us. When we delight in the Lord we strip away our worldly desires and start desiring God's heart. It becomes more about God, less about me. It might sound like a painful process, but only then will we know true joy, peace, love, and have all our heart's desires fully met.
Personal Reflection
I've read this verse many times. I even remember listening to multiple lessons where the speaker talks about how God molds our hearts to desire what He desires. I responded with "well of course, that makes sense." But only this past year have I truly understood what this verse meant.
When COVID happened and all my 2020 plans were canceled, I questioned why God didn't allow my "good desires" to happen. I desired to graduate early, get a job, be more independent and start my life in New York. Although those desires aren't inherently bad, my heart was in the wrong place. I was idolizing my career. "What was the best place to move to for theatre?" "What sort of connections do I need to be well informed about auditions?" "Where I do see myself 5 years later in the theatre world?" I realized that my whole life revolved more around theatre than God! I never asked myself those questions for the Kingdom. Did I even have desires for the Kingdom? Sure, I desired for friends, family, and people around me to know God, but I wasn't thinking about how I could actually contribute and use my gifts! How can I help serve? How can I maximize my resources to reach out and build relationships? When God stripped away all my plans for the year I sat down with a blank canvas. I started asking myself the real question: "What will truly matter in eternity?"
After having that revelation, my heart's desires started to change. First off, I wanted to be more involved in the ministry. I desired to get training for leadership (and God willing go on a one year challenge). I desired to possibly lead something like a Bible talk, purity group, or help out in the teens ministry. Suddenly my heart was filled with excitement. I never saw ministry work as something "fun" and "exciting" but now it was. Having the day end knowing that I helped someone get closer to God and closer to Heaven just seems so fulfilling. I know that God will use my passion for theatre somewhere down the lines in the future, and I'm excited. I can't wait to see how God will continue to mold my heart to be more like His.
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| Picture credits to Sarah Anne Guzman :) |
(Of course not everyone will desire to be in the ministry. How in the world would a church function like that haha! But it's just a personal testimony on what God has revealed to me.)
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