How often we quote one of the psalms and say to one another, "The Lord will give you the desires of your heart." I've been reminding God a lot lately what the desires of my heart are - praying that He would grant them this year. But a couple of days ago a trusted sister delivered a rebuke to me from Father. He said of me, "Her desires are not always My desires for her."
Wham! Sometimes our Papa has to get right in our face to cause us to remember that it's not really about OUR desires, doesn't He? I think sometimes I am guilty of assuming that if I am serving Him, I must be right in the center of His will. But am I? Or am I right in the center of my own?
Francis Frangipane writes, "The Lord is concerned about fulfilling our desires, but to do so He must pry our fingers off our lives and turn our hearts toward Him. Indeed, the reason we are alive is not to fulfill our desires, but to become His worshipers."
Interesting imaginery isn't it? I can imagine God reaching down and prying my fingers off my own small life, in order to set my hands to praise and glorify Him! Frangipane goes on to write about Leah, the unloved wife of Jacob. She named her first son Reuben, which means "Surely now my husband will love me." Her desire was for a husband who loved her, and the result was rejection, disappointment and bitterness. But by the time she gave birth to her fourth son, Leah had changed her priorities. She named this little one Judah, saying, "This time I will praise the Lord!" And it occurred to me that Messiah Yeshua came from the line of Judah. Through a heart turned entirely toward Yahweh in praise, desiring only Him, the seed of the Messiah came forth!
Frangipane concludes, "Leah had been seeking self-fulfillment and found only heartache and pain. But as she became a worshiper of God, she entered life's highest fulfillment: she began to please God."
May this always be my heart's desire, Father: to please You, and You alone.
