God’s Will
Psalm 37: 4 NLT
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
A friend of my emailed me this week, closing her message with “God’s will be done.” That is a heartening expression, is it not? What I heard in it was, “Not the world’s will but God’s will be done.” I am sending out a proposal and I believe it is God’s will so naturally, I want the people who must decide on the idea to follow God’s will. I don’t want them to bend to the world’s pressures, fear, ignorance or any other obstacle. So yeah, God’s will be done in this situation, as in all.
When I read her email, though, it did send me off thinking about something I have been pondering for a while and today’s verse captures the concept. God is willing to give me the desires of my heart because I take my delight in Him. I want you to see this verse from the Passion Translation too. It reads, “Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and he will provide for you what you desire the most.” This version clarifies what it means to “take delight in the Lord.” He should be the source of pleasure. He should bring smiles to our faces and we should want to be with him.
Now, I think I qualify for the first part of that verse. God is delightful to me. So, that takes me to the second part, He will give me the desires of my heart. So, I ask myself, whose will is this about, His or mine? This project is my desire. It is important that He approve but the truth today’s verse points out is that He is waiting for us to say something. He wants to know what I want, what my will is.
Of course, we all want to be in God’s will. I guess that goes without saying but it is important to note that He will give you the desires of your heart sometimes even when it is not His will. The Israelites wanted a king (1 Samuel 8: 5). It was not God’s will for them. Samuel warned them sternly about this path, but they insisted on being like the other nations and having a king, so, God told Samuel to, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king,” (1 Samuel 8: 22). And so, Israel got a king. You might recognize his name. It was Saul. Eventually the kingdom was wrenched from Saul’s hands and given to David. Thus, what the people wanted did not serve them well, but God turned it around for them anyway.
The point I wish to make is that God is looking to you. He wants to know what your will is. It is not as though He did not counsel Israel about the wisdom of her choice. He does that. He will speak to your dreams and desires too but first you must communicate them to Him. That is how it works.
Too often we sit on our laurels waiting for God to do something or say something and He is looking to us to say something. “What do you want, children?” I love what my friend meant when she wrote about God’s will being done relative to my project. She had already agreed to pray for it, so her statement was like an exclamation point. Other times, though, I have sensed that people use that expression as an excuse to do nothing. There is another cute phrase I heard years ago when I lived in San Diego. It says, “God can’t steer a parked car.” That has always ministered to me. If we will start the engine, put the car in gear and begin on a determined course, our Father will act as navigator and direct our steps. Everything in the Bible tells us He will guide us. There is not theology or scripture, though, for sit in your recliner and wait for God to do something.
So, what is your will? What is your desire? What will bring you joy and fulfillment? Maybe your recliner needs an eject button. Stir yourself up. Of course, take it to Dad and let Him speak to your goals and embellish your ideas. He has great creative chops. He will bless the work of your hands and everything you set your hand to. So, start dreaming. Start thinking about what you would like to accomplish. It’s not ALL about His will. It’s not all about His desire. It just may be about the desire He has planted in your heart.
