Pursuing Desires, Part 1

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4

Whenever I am asked to share my favorite verse in the Bible, I typically direct people to this one. It has become somewhat of a life-verse for me. May this truth bring both direction and comfort to you, as it has for me, as you continue your journey through life.

As a traveling musician, one of the most common questions I hear is, “How do I start doing music like you do?” I have talked to many young people who have started bands and/or have begun writing songs and are extremely passionate about the music and hope to find a way for their music to reach more people. This can be a good thing, but too often many make the mistake of putting their focus on the wrong thing. While God does call us to be diligent and faithful with the talents He has given us, it is sometimes easier for us to focus on the logistics of taking the next step and we completely forget to keep Christ the center of all of our pursuits. This is not just applicable to musicians, but it applies to virtually anyone in every pursuit throughout their life.

“Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” 

With every talent and ability God gives us, He also instills within us a desire. What are you passionate about? Once you answer that question, the next question you need to ask is: “Is this my prideful desire or a desire God has instilled within me?” If we are delighting in Him, our heart will be aligned with what He wants for us. If it is a God given desire, He promises to “...give you the desires of your heart”. 

I want to caution you here, however. The key to this promise is that we delight in Him and that these desires are God-given. This does not mean, if I want it bad enough, God promises to give it to me. My constant prayer has been, “God, Is this desire from you?  If it is, I ask that you bring it to pass. If it's not, I pray that you change my heart.” Time and time again one of two things happens.  Either God will change my heart and my desires will shift completely, or God will miraculously step in and bring the desires to pass. 

As Christians, we are to be faithfully pursuing Christ and delighting in Him. When we do that, we will find ourselves in His desire. Our dreams will become in sync with His and we will find ourselves at a place where we can see God miraculously bring to pass the very things we long for the most. It is an incredible and exciting way to walk through life!

Thank you for reading this blog. I hope you have found it both encouraging and insightful. Please check in again as next time I will continue these thoughts on pursuing desires. God bless!

- Jon Micah