What do you take delight in? There are a number of things that I take delight in: My husband, my children, the things I enjoy to do, my family and friends, chocolate covered strawberries, mexican and italian food. Speaking of Italian food, my sister updated her status on Facebook saying that she was eating lunch at Olive Garden. I’m trying to not be to jealous here, (I LOVE Olive Garden!) but she is pregnant with my twin nieces, so I guess I won’t hold it against her. 😉
So back to delight. Our verse today is Psalm 37: 4-5 “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”
I’m sure you have heard this verse, memorized it and probably even quoted it to someone. I looked up the phrase delight yourself in Hebrew. It means, to take pleasure in. I’m not going to lie, when I think of the word delight I think of happiness, joy, ect. But I haven’t really thought of pleasure. In order to take pleasure in my husband, my kids, family and friends, I have to know them. I must have a relationship with them, spend time with them. They become a delight because I enjoy being with them.
I have heard so many people use this as a means to assure themselves that God will give them the desires of their hearts, and I’m not saying that He won’t. But we can’t expect to have our desires of our heart met without delighting in Him, to take pleasure in Him, to know Him, to have a relationship with Him. I have heard someone say once that if we have a relationship with God, then His desires becomes our desires. We will want and desire things that God wants. I love this. When I think about what I dream about in my heart of hearts I have to stop and ask myself, do I want this just because it will be nice to have? Or because I can use it for God? I’m not saying that wanting things is a bad thing. Not at all, believe me I would love to have a Mini Cooper. Does it really matter if I have one? It would be awesome, but no, it really doesn’t matter in the long run.
There’s a second part to this promise. First, we have to delight ourselves in God. Second we have to commit ourselves to God and trust Him. It may come easy to you to delight yourself in God, and yes, maybe to even commit. But to trust? That is one that trips us up all the time. How can you trust your dreams, your desires that are deep in your heart, how can you trust that God is going to give them to you? If our desires are God’s desires, then they have to come true. His Word does not lie, God can not lie. If He has promised something, He has to do it. But it’s up to us to hold up our end. We have to trust Him.
What are you delighting in? What are you taking pleasure in? What dreams are growing in your heart? What is your motive? Is God growing them or you? Just a few questions to think about.
Hugs,
Erin
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