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 desires of your heart?

That question has a list of obvious and not-so-obvious answers for all of us.

But, there is another question I've often asked myself when reading this verse or hearing someone talk about it:
If this verse is true, then why are there things I desire that I'm not getting?
I've wrestled with this question many times. Often walking away with no real answer to it.

Lately I've been wrestling with it again and I've come to a knew understanding. Oftentimes what I think are the desires of my heart aren't really the desires of my heart.

Let me explain that. When I stop and take a look at what I think the desires of my heart are, I can usually find something underneath them that is really the desire of my heart. I've taken the real desire and looked for ways to meet it and then called those ways of meeting it my heart's desires.

It seems easier to call those things my heart's desires because they're measurable and something that seems attainable. They seem like something I have control over making happen.

But I'm beginning to wonder if in doing so, I miss the ways God actually fulfills those desires of my heart. I get so caught up in looking for one specific way I miss all the other ways God is working.

Maybe that's where you are also. You're not seeing God give you the desires of your heart. And maybe the key is that you're not seeing it because you've confused the desires of your heart with specific ways you think those desires could be fulfilled.

Will you open your eyes to new ways God may be wanting to fulfill those desires?