If/Then: Are Our Desires God's Desires?

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

All of us have experienced having desires in this life, and most of us are still waiting on at least one of those desires or dreams to come to life.  Some of us have even had glimpses or visions from God confirming certain desires.  Others have thought for sure that a certain dream was about to come true...only to find that it was lost again in but a moment.

So many thoughts and questions come to mind, when thinking about our hearts desires.  But here are what I believe are the two most prominent:

1. How can we know that our desires are God's desire as well?
2. How can we trust that God will give us what we desire?

Let's approach each of these questions one by one starting with the first.

How can we know that our desire are God's desire as well?

It can be a challenge to believe God for something, when years and years have gone by and still...that desire or dream is just that...a dream.  But if we look at the scripture above as an if/than statement than we know for sure one thing.

IF we are taking delight in the Lord, then He is giving us the desires of our heart.

So what does it mean to delight in the Lord exactly and what does it mean for Him to give us a desire?

I love looking up the definition of words.  It always presents a new and unique and most of the time solid explanation. 

To delight in something, or in this case in God, by definition means to receive great pleasure from, be charmed by, or find joy in.  But he foundational word for delight, in our literal history actually means to be charmed, and charmed in it's foundation term means to be influenced, therefore if we are daily influenced by the Lord, THEN the Lord will give or freely transfer to us our desires.  

So re-writing we could say the above scripture as such:

IF we are acting under the influence of the Lord THEN He will freely transfer from His heart to ours, our desires.

So now more fully understanding the above scripture, we can trust that if we are living under God's influence and power than the desires that are planted in our heart ARE planted there by God.  

The second question is a bit harder to answer because it's foundation is harder to obtain.  TRUST!

How can we trust that God will give us what we desire?

Well lets start by asking ourselves, what does it mean to trust?

Defined trust means to have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something, in this case being our God.  So if we take each of these words and find scripture to back them up...I believe we can't do anything but trust our God.  SO here goes:

RELIABILITY:

"Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago." Isaiah 25:1

Time and time again in the bible we see acts of God's faithfulness and reliability.  

“And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.” (Genesis 21:1) 

God told Abraham that He would have decedents as many as the stars and we well know...HE DID!

Our God is faithful and therefore reliable.

TRUTH:

Is God truly there? (This is a very loaded question, which I will answer simply and if you are interested in knowing more please do not hesitate to contact me and ask.)  We know that the bible is truth and the stories of history that are written in it have been historically proven and backed up, SO if we know that the bible is truth and that our God is real, then we can believe this scripture that says:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2Timothy 3:16)

ABILITY:

"Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."(Ephesians 3:20)

I love this scripture!  God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, if that doesn't speak to God's ability I don't know what does!

STRENGTH:

Is our God strong?

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jeremiah 32:17)

We serve a strong and able God.  A God who formed the universe and all that is with in it.  Our God is STRONG!

So after reading the above scriptures, I hope that you can stand with me and believe that we serve an all powerful God that we can rightly put our hope and trust in.   But if you are still struggling, it may help to take each of these words and define times in your life where God has specifically shown each of these characteristics to you personally.  For what we read and what we experience are two very different things and if we can remember times in our own lives that God has shown His faithfulness, our ability to trust Him is strengthened.  

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.(Jeremiah 29:11)

But remember, 

"In his heart a man plans His course, but the Lord determines His steps." (Proverbs 16:9)

So many times God shows us a dream, or a desire for our life and for the sake of this analogy I would like you to imagine that your dream or desire is like a living deer. Rarely are we allowed to run full speed ahead and grab at a deer with out a struggle or a chase.  Timing and approach are everything. So is that in life. We must always wait on God's timing. Why?

Because God knows that even if we run at our dream, grab it and manage to catch it, when it is not ready...just as a deer would, we will find the dream struggling, and bucking against us! It is only when we wait in peace and stillness for God to allow the deer or dream to come towards us, that we can willingly and in God's good grace embrace it fully, without resistance or struggle.

So my brothers and sisters, trust, believe and wait on the Lord.  Knowing that if you are walking in His influence then the desires that He is giving you, are His own and you can TRUST that He will see them through in His right and perfect time!