Irony of Ironies

“Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”   ~ Psalms 37:4
Most of us have read this verse hundreds of times.  And our focus nearly always lands on what God is going to do for us instead of what we are supposed to be doing.  The irony is that this fact aptly demonstrates the true state of our hearts.  Our delight is still in our desires rather than in the Lord.
We tend to think of this as scriptural support for pursuing a bartering relationship with God: the sure way to get what we really want.  This is wrong. We cannot earn any of God’s grace and we cannot manipulate Him to get what we want.  Disciplining ourselves to the delight in Him gives God a consistent open door in our lives… to change us and make us (and our dreams) who He wants us to be.  This change alters our thinking and slowly transforms what our heart desires to new and “renovated” dreams that glorify Him.
Which is great, but at some level, at least some of us are thinking: So, I get nothing. Eventually, most of us find ourselves pouting and ultimately, whining, “God, you never give me what I want.”  And when that happens, the challenge is to back up one verse to Psalms 37:3 and start again.  Trust God.  Do good.  Dwell in the land (i.e. fully live out the opportunities God has given).  And feed on His faithfulness.  God is always loving and constantly seeking our good, even when those desires closest to our hearts go unfulfilled in the moment. 

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