I was sitting at my kitchen table tonight after dinner, not paying too much attention to my 5-year-old daughter Tessa who was “exercising” a few feet away from me. She loves to watch these kids’ exercise videos on YouTube and will actually do the exercises shown in the videos. But tonight, I had to laugh to myself. When I looked over, Tessa was exercising while holding a dish of chocolate ice cream! Two activities could not be more contradictory than exercising while eating ice cream, but she didn’t care!
Earlier today, I read Psalm 37:4 which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I sat with that verse for a while today, letting the full meaning sink deep into my soul. This verse means nothing about God giving you everything you want, and everything about finding all your joy and meaning and satisfaction and hope in Him. How often have I glazed over this very same verse and thought more about the desires of my heart, as in things and stuff I want or circumstances I want Him to change? But no, those are not the desires this verse is referring to. We can go through the motions of living our lives for God, all while clinging tightly to the desires of our hearts and miss the whole point of faith. Just like Tessa, exercising while eating ice cream, we lose out on the benefits of reading His Word if we don’t live a lifestyle that implements what we are reading about and give up the things that distract us from Him.
My heart, my soul are so sullied and jaded from the daily barrage of all the things I’m supposed to need and want, it is hard for me to take a step back and truly focus on God and the things that will finally fill the void in my heart. God created us and designed us to be in a deeply personal relationship with Him. Seeking Him, leaning on Him, being in constant and regular communication with Him allows us to find our delight in Him. And those desires of our hearts? He in turn gives us unconditional love and forgiveness, peace, strength, comfort, hope, lasting joy. Jesus is all we need. This sounds too easy, but it’s true. We won’t find anything else, anyone else who can fill the void in our lives the way He can. He knows what you need, when you need it. He knows our thoughts and fears before we even express them to Him. He gave everything to show us how much He loves us. Yet we still cling to our stuff!
You may have heard of the fruit of the Spirit. These are the qualities that God pours into our lives, through His Spirit, when we are living our lives in close communion with Him. The list is found in Galations 5:22-23 and I love how it reads in The Message version,
“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”
Dear God, today I want to find my delight in you. Just as a young child might have visible and unrestrained delight at the sight of a new puppy, give me that unbridled joy when I encounter You, when I spend time with You and in Your Word. Give me the desires of my heart. Fill me up with the things I really need, not the fruitless things of this world. In Jesus Name, Amen.
