“He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them.” Psalm 145:19 (Amp)
Recently, I was asked if God puts a dream in your heart, did He put it there for the purpose of fulfilling it, or did He just put it there?
It’s a question we all have to wrestle with at some point or another – especially when we feel like our lives are in limbo.
I know the Lord has placed on my heart to pray for my sons to be in full-time ministry – to be world changers for His glory – to be godly men who will turn this world upside down for Christ. It’s the cry of my heart – it’s the desire I long to see God fulfill.
Parts of that prayer have come to pass, other parts haven’t. But it’s coming – oh yes, sweet friend, it’s coming!
I remember when I knew I was called to the mission field 7 years before Donald was. My heart ached for Africa. I prayed for Africa all the time.
We ended up in Costa Rica. I had to learn Spanish, not Swahili.
You see, God put the desire for the mission field in my heart. But there was no mistake about it – He had also put Africa on my heart.
And so, I began to do what most of us do when things don’t seem to be going the way we expected – I began wrestling with God.
Why in the world would the Lord place Africa so heavy on my heart if I was going to end up in Costa Rica?
The answer finally came in one of those ‘still small voice’ moments… “You prayed for Africa, didn’t you!”
The desire caused me to pray like crazy. The desire to go wasn’t fulfilled, so I had to rest in the fact that God not only chooses what desire He places in our hearts, but He also chooses the reason why.
And that’s okay. In fact, it’s better than okay – it’s good…because He’s good and His plan for us is good.
And so, when our hearts long for a God-given dream to be fulfilled or a longing the lines up with Scripture (like the salvation of our children, peace for Israel, that those that we know and love will walk in the knowledge of God), then we can be assured that He will fulfill it according to the purpose for which He placed it there in the first place.
That may not be the answer your heart hopes for, but the wrestling that takes place in our heart is always a surrender to His will over ours. Sometimes because we know He loves us and His plan is always good. Other times, because we confess that He knows what is best. Always because He is God.
What plan has He placed in your heart that you are still longing to see fulfilled? Are you willing to let Him fulfill according the His own purpose?
Yet another great post Stephanie. 😉 3 years and 2 months, 6 days and 3 hours ago (not that I'm counting) … LOL! My world as I knew it was literally turned up side down. Because absolutely nothing made sense and clearly wrong decisions were made on my behalf (by others) that also made no sense, I determined in that moment that God was 100% in control and had allowed these events in my life to get me out of current life and set me up to pursue my ladies' ministry full time. It was the only explanation to me, and although I ached and wrestled things out with God in private, I publicly handled things with great grace and integrity. Imagine my added pain when not only did my ladies' ministry not take off, it became virtually non-existent. (I know I shared this with you before, so forgive my redundancy), 😉 It took 3 agonizing years of prayer and seeking Him on the alter of my bedroom floor that I finally realized that God hadn't put me on a shelf, but He had placed me on His anvil. The fire was intensely painful, and the anvil, equally as painful. But, because of the anvil, I'm not the same woman I was, by a long shot. Things are still not okay, and clearly every once in a while He sees the need to place me back on that anvil for some more hammering and shaping. It's during those times that I seek Him on a different level, and through it, it's getting easier for me to surrender my own ideas and dreams, as I long for more of HIM and less of me to be evident both privately and publicly.
By the way … I hope one day to see all your Blog posts turned into a sweet devotional booklet. I would buy it. 😉
Hi Shelly!
You are ever-encouraging, my friend!
I love how you shared that they hard place that you went through made you a different woman. From glroy to glory, sweet friend! He is changing us from glory to glory…for His glory!
Thanks agian for your willings to share such a painful place in your life!
Love ya girl!
Steph
Phil 3:7-14
This post really spoke to me Stephanie. God has been dealing with me about desires. And I agree the best place to start with those desires is to pray about them. Some of my desires, it turned out, were not from God. However, dealing with them and giving them over to God brought me closer to Him!
Hi Sharla!
Thanks for reminding us that not every desire initiates in the heart of God. Sometimes we want something so bad we think it's God's plan, but when we examine it under the lens of God's Word and His work, we have to step back and place it at His feet and leave it there as an unfulfilled desire that originated in our own heart. That's such a hard lesson, but you're SO right – it always draws us closer to Him.
Thanks for stopping by Sharla! I always love your heart and your insight!