How to wait: Delight yourself in the Lord

How to wait: Delight Yourself in the Lord

The Waiting devotional study

Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4 NASB

*Deep breath! Ahhh. This verse is home to me. It’s one of the very first verses I remember holding on to. I love the general coverage of our needs, hopes, wants with “desires” and the simplicity of the instruction. “Delight yourself in the Lord”. A+B=C, right? It feels light, not burdensome, it’s reassuring. Another Psalm says, “I don’t want your sacrifice, I want your heart.”

A Devoted Heart

A devoted heart, a life that just keeps running back to Him. Psalm 37:4 reassures us that his yoke is easy. Let Him take care of the details, rest and enjoy simply who He is.

I think it’s easy to take advantage of our proximity to God. And it takes time to cultivate a listening heart instead going to Him with our laundry list. I love that God takes care of the laundry list because He loves us and has so much grace for us. However, time after time, He calls out to us in His word – come to me and I’ll give you rest… delight yourself in the me and I will give you the desires of your heart… I’m not looking for a sacrifice, what I really want is your love.

Babies cry out for their needs and parents take care of them. As the child grows up, they become more independent but there is still a relationship. I am close to my family. I have a great relationship with my parents, they are some of my closest friends, and I appreciate that connection but that connection is maintained because I spend time with them. Sure – they still help me – a lot! But I know they are blessed by my connection too.

I have been working to assess and cultivate my connection to God. In some ways, it really is just as easy as getting to know someone, in other ways, it takes deeper discipline but there is always something new to discover about him. We can spend time in His word. We can spend time singing songs of praise and worship. We can even just choose to be intentionally quiet and still listening for what He is speaking to our hearts.

What about the what if’s?

I love how this verse just puts it out there. Looking for help?! Come and hang out with me – I got you. One of my biggest struggles was the big WHAT IF… WHAT IF I’m the one Paul was talking about when he said, its better that some of you remain single. WHAT IF the desire of MY heart is not what God has planned for me. I spent so much time and energy wearing myself out over this point-blank FEAR.

So here’s how I’ve decided to those fears. You’ve heard bad company corrupts good morals, so what do you suppose good company does? Right – it promotes GOOD THINGS! I was spending time with God. I was submitting my path to His heart, His will, His best for my life. If I was spending all of this time with him it stands to reason that He probably put those very desires in my heart. Spending that time together sows in the right things and helps weed out the wrong things. The enemy had come to steal my peace and honestly, for a long time – I let him. But no more. God’s Word doesn’t return to Him without accomplishing what it was sent to do. I do delight in spending time with God and He will give me the desires of my heart. I am getting married. God is answering this prayer.