The (secret) desire of my heart: land. This land. Far-stretched, wide-open, greened-up land. Five miles from Freeman House. Land.
Land to build cottages. Cottages that will house women - hurting women, hard-pressed women, healing women, hungry women, hopeful women.
This was not my desire even, say, a year ago. Strange. I thought of Psalms 37:4 this morning, even though I usually groan when I hear this verse. (I think this stand-by has been used - too often - as a cutesy, good-luck charm, toss-away verse.) So my question is this: does God... who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves... wait (like a genie) to grant us all those deeply-held desires of our hearts? Or, as we come to know His purposes, plans, and ways, does He tweak our desires accordingly, therefore accomplishing His express purpose while simultaneously thrilling us?
I only ask this to say that He holds my heart, and its desires are strangely... suddenly... changing. A womens' getaway retreat? What? (I used to desire shopping sprees at Super Target. And as a girl, I wanted for nothing more than to grow up to cut fabric at Wal-Mart.) So desires do change. But when did this desire manifest?
Instead of me telling you this week, you tell me: what's your take on Psalms 37:4?
21 comments:
Haha, Sall! There's your Target AND your Wal-Mart worked into a MM. Pickles, anyone? Anyone ;p
Brin - As we hold our desires loosely in an open hand to the Lord He will take them, shape them perfectly and return them to us in a way we never could have imagined. Sometimes they look totally different. Sometimes they are exactly as we envisioned them. When we don't hang on too tight He can work behind the scenes in ways we would never imagine possible. I'm seeing it begin to happen for us. We never would have believed it would come from the direction it's coming. And where will it end? We don't know but we know HE is at work. And it will be right! ~Adrienne~
Goode Morning... Brin
Oh, my GooDneSS!!! I just circled that verse Sunday morning while sitting on my front porch sipping coffee, along with other verses. Stay close to the Lord... He will guide you ALL the way, down paths that we think are unimaginable... But He does things that are outside the box & at GREAT lengths. Follow your Heart... Girlfriend. Blessings 2 you, Pamela
Hi Brin,
Coming out of lurkdom here :o)
You know what? Everything that we have experienced in our lives shapes us for what is to come.
I do not know much about you. If your desire is to help hurting women, is this because of past hurts that God has allowed you to go through?
When we experience God's faithfulness in the hard times (and accept them as His testing ground), and are open to that faithfulness, the desires He has for us will become ours as well.
This verse calls me back to Exodus 31:1-6 where God blessed two men with "ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft". I imagine these men created countless beautiful treasures with their gift long before they ever crafted the holy tabernacle. Their talent, ability, and desire to be artists were fully realized when they "delighted in the Lord".
I believe God wired us with gifts to give and passions to share as well. He knows in His infinite wisdom where and when those gifts will come to fruition. Sometimes the Spirit whispers to you, and there's a longing that defies conventional wisdom, but you just know that this is what you were put in this place at this moment to do. When we delight in the Lord, we are able to listen to His voice and receive what our hearts truly need.
I think its both. I think God delights to give us good gifts, but He molds our desires, too. If we're truly delighting in Him, and letting Him be the most important thing in our life, our passions start to line up with the things that He has for us.
Here's my take...the more I delight myself in the Lord, the more my desires become His desires. When I desire what He wants for my life...those desires are granted.
I agree with what Judy wrote. The more time I spend with the Lord, the more my desires become what He desires for me.
So often I have had to wait for those desires. Along the way, some desires changed and others have remained.
The older I get (I have now passed 50), the more I have learned to pray that HIS will be manifested in my life.
He does give us our desires, though. Really... honest... in His timing.
Hi Brin,
I really think the verse means exactly what it says. Of course the telling part is "delight yourself in the Lord." I believe that when we love God, really and truly love Him, our desires are bound to fall in line with His. And I think our heavenly Father will then make our hearts desires a reality.
I think most people focus on the second part of the verse, and who wouldn't? I mean, we all like a promise! And a promise with good things attached is something we'd all like to see happen in our lives. But the key is the first part "delighting in the Lord." And I'm still working on that. I certainly feel His presence during worship at church, or when I am singing praises in the shower. But at other times, I am more hardpressed to say what "delighting" is.
Anyway, how soon will that retreat be done? I could use a getaway and a great Christian friend to talk to. Build soon, Brin, and they will come.
I think it's an amazing idea and I can't imagine anyone more perfect to do it than you.
Isn't this an interesting question? How I see it is that we should live our best possible life, facing challenges positively and life will be rewarding. Psalms 37:4 seems rather like a promise written by someone persuading people to believe a certain way. "Follow my God and you will get what you want." To me, The Bible is a guide for life written by lots of different people with different ideas, and we should take from it what helps us to live our best life. Our desires certainly do change as we change! I think you may find that you have always wanted to help people in your life, but as you have learned the lessons of life your focus has sharpened and matured. I do find it strange how, despite facing many struggles with an anxiety disorder, I have come to find my niche in life teaching people with severe intellectual disabilities. This has been my desire since I was quite young, and although I didn't believe I would ever get there, (and the path has been windy and rocky) somehow I did. Now I've got that part of life in place, and continuing to develop, I am working on my creative side through music and crafts and trying to live well. This gives me the confidence in myself to be my best. In working towards your goal my suggestion is start small, nurture it and it will grow. Live your best life XXX
I love your Monday thoughts, Brin. The logical side of me sees this verse as an "if, then" scenario. If we delight in the Lord, then He will give us the desires of our heart. But it takes us stepping out in obedience to delight in our Lord, despite how we feel or what our circumstances are. As we do that, as we conform to Him, he transforms us by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12). Our desires become more and more in step with His desires. I'm excited to see how He gives you the desires of your heart as you continue to seek after Him and delight in His goodness.
I think that if we are delighting ourselves in the Lord, than our desires can't help but be aligned with His. Psalms 37:4 is one of my favorite promises. I think you should go after your desire! You would be blessing women in ways you couldn't even begin to understand. Consider my grandma, my mom, myself and my daughters on the waiting list!
I have said it before, but your blog is such a blessing!
kali
I have to agree wholeheartedly with the thought that if/then. I do believe that as we ask and allow God to lead us, He takes us to places we may not have ever dreamed of before. He changes our desires and molds us into the image that He would have us be.
So happy for your dream, Brin. That land is beautiful. What a wonderful place for healing and growing in God's love. I love your kind heart. I see God's reflection in your dreams!
Blessings,
Mickey
Won't it be a wonderful day when His desires become our own?
Count me as one who has always been a bit fuzzy about what God's plan for me is.
What a wealth of wonderful thoughts here in comments!
As I sit and watch the afternoon storm come in, we can be reminded that darkness prevails to light and a rainbow may be God's treasure to us today. The world and all that is in it, so fragile, yet, remember Brin, He is in control and you will need to keep dreaming your dream of land, help and hope. He will provide a way for you to do this in His time.
I loved this post!! I agree with Judy too, so simple! That retreat dream will come true, if anyone can do it, it's you! Such pretty land for it too!
I just wanted to drop in and tell you how much I love your Monday Moments! They are always amazing and joyful to me, I am so thankful God has given you such a talent not only to write but to weave in your own thoughts and pictures, thank you for being Brin :)
Hey sweet friend,
I think we've all read this verse with the wrong emphasis on the wrong words and fail to understand what it's saying for a very long time. If you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the DESIRES (of your heart.) Not He will give you WHAT you desire, but the DESIRES He wants you to have. He gives you the actual desires, and then meets them, not the other way around, like we have desires that are our own and he lets us have what we wish for. If you are delighting yourself in the Lord, He will give you the right desires, and then everything will fall into place because we desire His will and we are more pliable and ready to follow instead of fight for what we wanted first.
My take: the more I give to the Lord, the more of my desires He will give back to me. Even though I know this and believe it with all my heart, I have to say it is so hard to do.
Post a Comment