The Desires of Your Heart

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

What are the things that you long for? What are your heart’s deepest desires? Your soul’s cravings? Have you ever given them much thought? Have you written them down? Do you pray about them? We all have them. God created us to have longings. Did you ever consider, though, that those deep desires were meant to be satisfied in Him? Think about it. Your desire to be loved and known – did you know that there is not a soul on this side of heaven that can fully know and love you like Jesus can? And what about your desire to be accepted? Are you aware of the fact that Jesus Christ accepts all who come to Him and confess Him as Lord?

Have you ever wondered if the desires of your heart will ever be met? I know that I have. And then I came across this short verse in Scripture. “Delight yourself in the LORD.” Do I take great delight in the LORD? Do you? Let me describe it to you this way. Think about a long-distance runner. I used to be one. When I decided to start running, I quickly became aware of the difficulty of this discipline. I had to structure my day in order to allow time to run, and it started off pretty rough. The first few weeks were the hardest. I could barely run a mile without stopping, but every day I told myself, “You need to run today.” As I began to build endurance, running became easier and easier. Suddenly, I found myself desiring to run as opposed to feeling obligated to run. As my distance increased with each passing week, I desired it more and more. A habit was forming, and I liked it. As the desire began to grow more and more over time, I found myself taking great delight in running. What used to be painful discipline was now fun exercise. I could run for miles without pain or the need to stop, and I delighted in that. It was a journey, one that started with discipline, moved to desire, and culminated in delight.

Following the LORD and trusting in Him is somewhat similar. At first, it feels difficult to trust Him with your heart. It’s a discipline to order your days to spend time with Him, but the more you prioritize it, the more you desire it. You suddenly find yourself looking forward to being in His presence. But then, desire simply isn’t enough. You find yourself dancing in the fields of delight as you read His Word and spend time with Him and His people. There is no greater joy. You are now delighting yourself in the LORD, and this is when everything changes. Suddenly, you realize that the things you used to desire have changed because in your pursuit of the Holy, He has changed your heart, thus changing your desires to match His own. Can you see His beauty in the midst of your pursuit of Him? Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart – perhaps not the old desires that you once thought would best suit you, but He’ll give you new desires, ones that are perfectly aligned with His plan for your life.