Delight Yourself in the Lord!

Psalm 37:3-4 (NKJV):

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart."

As I was talking to my husband this morning, this scripture was laid upon my heart. It came to mind suddenly, and I had such joy when I thought about it. You see, God is asking us to "delight yourself in the Lord." When we make Christ our main focus in life, and delight ourselves in his character and goodness, we can dwell in the land, feed on his righteousness and he will give us the desires of our hearts! I have been told this by other Christians early in my walk with Jesus, but today it is becoming a reality. After talking to my dad this morning, it hit me that the desires of my heart used to be getting educated, finding a good career, and having a family. These are pretty typical American goals for any person, and many of us spend time, money and effort trying to gain these things. We believe that if we have the right degree, right career and a happy family, that we will be satisfied and secure all the days of our lives. This couldn't be further from the truth. Many people have degrees, money and families, but they cannot find a job that is satisfying, the money is constantly a concern (even if there is an abundance) and they become unhappy with their families. This leads to depression, a feeling of hopelessness, failure, depression, divorce and suicide (in some cases). The Lord gives us a much easier option. Trust in Him, trust in His Word, and DELIGHT ourselves in Him. Then he will give us the satisfaction and the desires that we have always wanted deep in our hearts. The interesting thing though is that we often do not know the desires of our own hearts until we begin to seek God and surrender to His will.

A perfect example...when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a doctor so I could help people and heal people. I dreamed for many years about being a doctor, but was told by the world many times that I was not good at math and science, therefore, my dreams of being a doctor faded away. I was suddenly left looking for another dream. So...I decided I wanted to be a journalist and writer. I had a skill and a passion for writing. So I went to college to get a degree in journalism, but along the way, I realized that journalists were often hypocrites and they told you to always tell the truth...but not the real truth, the truth that agreed with them. It disgusted me, and I did not want to spend time, effort and energy away from my family to seek a truth that was not real. So, I switched degrees to communication and decided to just graduate and find a job to support myself and my daughter. I did this, but no "job" was ever satisfying. I no longer had a dream, except to have a family that I could love and support. I sought this in all the wrong places as well, dating guys that were no good, and allowing myself and my daughter to be hurt in the process. I was far away from any dream, looking only to survive this wretched world. I was hurt, lonely, in debt, and my degree was not helping me to find a satisfying career...so I just settled for whatever I could get. I worked sales because I had the gift of gab, but often felt as though I had to be dishonest to make a profit. This internally made me upset, but I kept going because I had to survive. Sound familiar?

So, here is the second part of the true story of my life. I gave up one day, as I have said in former posts about my testimony. I surrendered my life, my heart and my will to Jesus Christ on June 10, 2007. I gave him my life, and I asked him to clean up the mess I had made. He forgave me for all the wrong things I had done in my own will and strength. He gave me a new life and wiped the slate clean. A completely fresh start...so then I had to live by His rules, His ways, and learn just to be satisfied with Him alone. He gave me an instruction manual on how to live my new life called the Bible. It has wisdom for living, wisdom that completely contradicts the ways of this world. When people see my living by my instruction manual, I am sure they are wondering when this crazy way of living is going to make me fall flat on my face. Although I cannot predict the future, I can say that every day since that first day have been better than any other day of the rest of my life. And since God has been faithful to his Word for the past year, I know he will be faithful for the rest of my life, and beyond. You see, since I started trusting God, I am satisfied to be doing His work every day. I am qualified to do His work because I am covered by the blood of Jesus and instructed in His Word, taught by the Holy Spirit Himself. I no longer need a degree to teach other's the way to abundant life, which is now my "career." I have been financially secure with my family since that first day, and although we do not always have a lot of money, I do not find myself wanting more. I am full of joy because I delight myself in the Lord, even when my bank account says "0." I trust the Lord will provide, I pray to Him, and he provides. Finally, the last dreams I had that are now being fulfilled were to be a doctor. Well, I am not an M.D. and have no credentials, but God has given me the spiritual gift of healing. I lay hands on people, anoint them with oil, and their ailments are healed. What an amazing job to have!

Just recently, I had the great privilege of laying a hand on my pastor's wife who had a bone spur in her tailbone and was refused surgery, and after praying, her back no longer hurts at all. She is completely pain free, healed by the power of God! So God DID give me the desire of my heart to help and heal people. He also gave me a wonderful family with two beautiful children. He gave me a non-drinking, loving husband who treats me and my children with respect, and is also a Christian. This was always a desire of my heart, even when I was not walking with God. I wanted a good man and beautiful children. God gave them to me. Now, as my family moves into a new chapter in our lives, we are awaiting what God has next. We are facing career changes for my husband, a new home, new friends, new church, and many other changes within the next year. Instead of being anxious, I can trust that the Lord has gone before me, and already has it worked out for us. It is going to be awesome no matter where we go. It will be the desire of our hearts because we no longer seek our own will, but His alone. And in the center of his will, we are always satisfied.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowlege Him,
And he shall direct your paths."

This is my testimony for today. God will make your paths straight if you stop trusting yourself and put your trust in Him and his Word.

I pray that God blesses you today with the hearing of his Word. I pray that he brings you to place of understanding that his ways are better than our own, and that by trusting in Him, we can have the desires of our heart! I pray that you would have peace and joy, delighting yourself every day in the joy of the Lord. Lord, bless these readers, and fill their day with your righteousness, help them to be satisfied with only you, and save their souls from eternal desperation of hell. I pray this in Jesus name, and I thank you God for your grace. Amen.

Delighting myself in Him,

Sarah