The Desires of Your Heart
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Many people read Psalm 37:4 and believe that they can delight in the Lord by going to church, reading their Bible a bit, and being nice to people and the Lord will give them whatever they want. For example, “I really want a red, convertible corvette. Thank you Lord for working to give me this car.” That is not what this verse means. God is not your magic genie! Some think that this verse means that if you truly delight in the Lord, then your desires will change into the desires the Lord has for your life. However, this does not line up with Galatians 5:24. “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” We are to crucify our desires, not change or alter them to fit what God is trying to do in our lives. Let us go back and read Psalm 37:4 one more time. If you do not read into it, it simply says that God will give us the desires of our hearts. It does not say He will give us a shiny new car, a great job, an obedient spouse, etc. It says he will give us “desires”. To put it simply, we are to crucify the desires that we have. Then we must renew our mind through the Word so we can prove what God’s perfect will is (Romans 12:2). As we humbly seek Him, God will give us His desires.
The only way we can truly walk in obedience to God’s plan is to crucify our desires and seek His plan for our lives in everything. It sounds extreme, but look at Jesus’ life. Jesus said that He only did and spoke what the Father did and spoke (John 5:19, John 12:49). Jesus’ desires had been crucified. The desires that were in His heart, were to be obedient and do His Father’s will. It may seem like a great idea to be a missionary, start a church, pick up a hitchhiker, feed the homeless, get a new car, take the higher paying job, etc. But if the Lord hasn’t shown you, STOP! Crucify your desires by getting on your knees, submitting yourself to God, and asking for His desires.
