for you so that

continued from Week 39

Is it okay if I go side-bar again for a moment?

Recalling what was to be my new experience of homeschooling coupled with some journaled words I’ll share a bit regarding a well known verse of Scripture. It’s Psalm 34:7:

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (ESV)

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. (NLT)

I have been among many who believe, and I’m not here to argue they aren’t correct, this verse means as we are delighted in the Lord, we are given tangibly, the desires of our heart. In the NLT version the apostrophe communicates this, right?!?

Stay with me here…💛

Here’s that train of thought… When we have genuine and pure longing like “I want a spouse and… God, I do what You ask” so “God, I’m to be given a spouse” Right???

And/or… we’ll ask and assume we are due the same with our health, healing, desiring children, work situations, finances, home spaces etc.

These asks or, dare I say, camouflaged but deserving demands made of God are our desires of our heart, and possibly, not His current desires for our hearts.

It’s not that He doesn’t want to be known as the most incredible Giver of all, which He is, but all too often our tangible desires are the tool used by the prince of darkness to tempt us to believe God, our Maker and true lover of all mankind is holding out on us. When we believe this, true intimacy (an unshakable faith born out of relationship with God) cannot grow.

God is really only our God when we give Him our all. Him actually being our all, is His foundational hope for us as His followers. Do you agree?

For me, as one living in America, the land of plenty, it’s proven to be a daily ask to let Jesus be and remain my King of all. Maybe it could serve your heart and your journey with Him if you join me in digesting Psalm 34:7 in this way…

As we delight in the Lord He gives to us our heart’s desires. I didn’t have a desire to homeschool and His desire wasn’t forced upon me as a must or “if you don’t…” Instead, by His Spirit within, He made it so I chose His invitation to further partner with Him, believing homeschooling is for His and our good. 

God gave me His desire for my heart which in this case was related to homeschooling and yes, He then brought it to being a part of our tangible life.

The beauty in this is as we live trusting Him, since He is our maker and sustainer, there becomes a union of hearts desires. God always has His best available for us and, when we let Him, He will birth these desires within us and then we are able to confidently step along in stride with Him, no matter the (tangible) outcome.

Do you recall when and how He birthed in you your heart’s desires? What are they?

Friend, may you let yourself be encouraged knowing as you are delighted in Him as the giver or this desire, in time, He will provide the more of Himself and/or the tangible provision. You can trust Him.

to be continued…