Something New
“Take delight in the LORD, and He will grant you your heart's requests.”
It’s pretty tempting to read this verse and ruminate on the second part - “He will grant you your heart’s requests.” What a lovely thought. In other translations, it even says, “He will give you what you want.” That sounds great to me. Let me just grab my pen, and I’ll start a list!
But before we jump into creating a “Honey-do” List for the Father, we can’t ignore the first part of this verse. We must FIRST delight in in Him. According to Webster’s delight is to find great pleasure, to find keen enjoyment, to find extreme satisfaction. As Christians, we’re called to find our greatest joy in Him - the one our hearts cry out for. To take delight in the Lord is to find our greatest pleasure in the One who is our greatest joy.
When He becomes our greatest joy, our hearts change.
When He is our greatest pleasure and our deepest satisfaction, our hearts desire SOMETHING NEW. Our hearts want Him. And that is a request He can always grant.
When our hearts are transformed, we want Him more than anything.
And when we want Him more than anything, our desire is to have more of Him.
And when our desire is to have more of Him, we can always have the desire of our hearts…
because we can ALWAYS have Him.
God’s word provides a way for us. The Father is teaching us that when we delight in Him, we always get what we want because He is always eag to give us more of Himself. We have a jealous God with a jealous heart. But we also have the kindest God. He knows we were made for unity with Him. He wired us to desire communion with Him. He knows that the greatest desire of our hearts is Him - even if that desire is buried underneath layers of hurt or wounding or stubbornness or anxiety or fear or hardened hearts. He made us this way.
Maybe it’s time to get in touch with your desires. Maybe it’s time to ask yourself - what do I want more than I want Him? And why? What does that say about what I believe about God?
Maybe the burning desire on your heart is to get married. Maybe you even want to get married more than you want to be close to God. But why is that? What are you looking for in marriage that you should be looking for in the Father?
Maybe marriage isn’t it for you. Maybe you want a killer job more than you want to be close to God. But why is that? What are you looking for in that job that you should be looking for in the Father?
Or money? Maybe you want a boat-load of money more than you want to be close to God. BUT WHY IS THAT? What are you looking for in that money that you should be looking for in the Father?
Or acclaim? Maybe you want to be the most glorious evangelist on the face of the earth. Maybe you want everyone to know how good you are at loving God. But WHY? What are you looking for in acclaim that you should be looking for in Him?
What are you looking for?
Security? Independence? Dignity? Respect? Beauty? Worthiness? What are you trying to prove? To others or to yourself or to God?
While it’s different for us all, we’re all doing it.
If we allow ourselves to let the Father decide who we are, we don’t need to look for all the other stuff. When we allow Him to tell us who we are, we are secure. We are free in our dependence in Him. Our dignity is bestowed at birth. We don’t need notoriety. We know our beauty. We understand our worth. We are respected as children of God.
When we let Him be a good God and tell us who we are, He calls us CHOSEN.
He declares that we are HIS,
Daughters born into an inheritance and RAISED TO RULE with Him.
What is left to prove with an anointing like that? So delight, sisters. Delight in HIM. Turn your hearts to HIM today. Remember Him. Remember His GOODNESS, His FAITHFULNESS. Call to Him. Surrender your expectations, your hopes, your dreams, and all your desires believing that He is a good God and let Him be your desire. He is not careless with the hopes of your heart. He knows. The hopes of your heart matter to Him because He loves you. Give them up to Him, and let Him be your everything.
Father,
Thank You for caring about our hearts. Thank You for offering Yourself so generously to us. Thank You for offering Yourself even when we reject or disregard Your offering. Please renew and refresh Your Spirit within us and to teach our hearts to long for You.
Father, we cannot do anything without You. Please come. Heal our messy hearts. Speak to our weary souls. Show us Your perfect love. Teach us how to DELIGHT in You. Teach us how to want SOMETHING NEW - the very thing written into our every being - more of You. Remind us that You are always MORE than enough.