"Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of your heart."
-Psalm 37:4
As a young believer, I was told that this verse is not to be taken as, "oh if I do all of these 'religious things,' then I will get what I really want" -as if this was some type of: "If I scratch your back, you'll scratch mine" deal.
Rather this passage was to be taken as, "When you learn to take delight in the Lord-like true delight, you know like that same delight you have for that crush, you will soon see that the desires of your heart is the Lord...what you want is what the Lord wants."
So it becomes more of "I lay down what I want not because I know later you'll give them back to me, but because I don't need them...in fact, I don't want them...not as much as I want you, Lord."
So if this is true, does God not care about our wants at all?
Sure, He gives us what we need...and sometimes even then, what we say is a "need" He has a greater answer in store.
As I say this, we must keep in mind that ONLY good things come from the Father.
James 1: 16-17
But back to our "wants" for the time being...
in most realms people would say "needs" trump "wants." Can we agree? Water trumps that new cell phone. Shelter trumps that gucci purse. Love trumps....
That, that is where the issue comes in. If you have read my past blog post
Love you would know that I have discussed this before.
But for a minute, let's think like the rest of world and just categorize love as sex-physical intimacy.
Sex is a need. It is used for procreation.
God from the very beginning said "Go, be fruitful and multiply..." (Genesis 1: 28).
God created sex for that reason.
But sex is also a want.
And to too many of us...a very, very strong want.
And God created wants, didn't He?
Thus, sex is more than just used for procreation. He must have made it more beautiful than that.
I don't believe that God would create something just for one reason. We are too much of a multifaceted/multifunctional/multipurposal creation-I believe that is also connected to "being the images of God."
It is here from this "rub" that we find our conflict. "God, I have these desires...that you created...but I have no need to procreate...I have no want to create...I just want the pleasure....What I do I do?"
Well, first let's look at our context in scripture:
"Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture."-verse 3
"Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and He will do this..."-verse 4
- You trust....trust like Abraham did when God said to sacrifice His only son and when he was about to strike Isaac upon the altar, God provided a lamb. Genesis 22: 1-14
- You take delight...take delight like Mary did in the things she did not understand where unfolding before her. Luke 2: 19
- You commit...commit like Peter did even when he failed, he got back up to accomplish the task set before him. Luke 22: 54-62
What does this have to do with you wanting sex or anything for that matter?
You trust that God's ways are above your own-not only are they best because He says so, but because His ways help you in the end-
Isaiah 55.
You take delight in what God has already blessed you with and who He is-
Psalm 1.
You commit all of who you are to Him, for this is your true act of worship-
Romans 12: 1-2
Sometimes this may require, however, using your rational (brain) over your heart....your emotions...those that which justify our wants too much.
Why, because once we surrender to God our desires we realize that with our wants-especially, in regards to sex, there is proper time and place for it/them.
Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?"
As a believer, it is our heart we still wrestle with...our core...for our core is us...still broken individuals. Yes, we have wants. Yes, God created those wants. But our nature says "I want it now!" It actually puts up a fight, like a raging toddler and screams: "GIVE IT TO ME!" This is what Paul is hinting at in
Romans 7: 14-25 , but what he says we must put away
1 Corinthians 13:11-12.
Ours minds, however, which as believers are being renewed through the Holy Spirit as we seek our Father daily and allow His love to embrace us in return, are going to think with this new found wisdom. This wisdom which we find in the Word says begins with "fearing the Lord."
Proverbs 9:10
We must train ourselves in this way:
2 Corinthians 10: 5
"We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
James 4:10
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
Hebrews 6:10
"God is not unjust;
He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him
as you have helped his people and continue to help them."
James 1:5-6
"If any of you lacks wisdom,
you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to you.
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt."
Ecclesiastes 3:11
"He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet
no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
Song of Songs 8:4
"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires."
God knows everything about you
Psalm 139....He created you and loves you. He knows what you need and what you want. He wants you to trust Him...to keep seeking Him.
He will bless you with those wants in His timing and they will be great!!!
