Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
(Psalm 37:4)
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, huh? All we have to do is love God, and our dreams will come true. That’s what this passage is saying, right? If we just go to church, act nice to others, etc., then God will be happy with us and will give us what we want.
Every time I read or think about that passage, it rolls around in my mind, and I know that there’s something much deeper and more complex to it than that.
God doesn’t present Himself as a magical genie in this passage, as some would view it. Say the magic words, rub the lamp in the right way, then poof! Your wishes come true. He is not a vending machine, or a nice old grandpa either.
On the contrary, I think that this passage has a much different meaning than we tend to take it, a double meaning actually. Something that I’ve come to realize as I’ve grown in my faith is that my desires have changed. My dreams and ambitions are different than they used to be, different from those around me. Some of the things I used to care a lot about, now I couldn’t care less about. The inverse is also true.
As I grow in my relationship with Him, He lays certain desires, dreams, ambitions, etc. on my heart. I want to reach out to others with the same love that has been shown to me, both by Him as well as by other Christians, to help others, to share the love of Jesus with them. He is literally giving me the desires of my heart.
As He does this, as our desires fall in line with His desires, our passions with His passions, He helps us to attain those goals and dreams and plans. He brings people in our life in need of compassion and love and hope. He helps our desires to come to fruition – the desires that He gave us, that came out of our relationship with Him.