Your Desires ≠ God's Desires. Why God doesn't give you what you want.
The things that you want and the things that God wants for you are two totally different things. Somehow, we believe that if we follow Jesus, He will give us the things we desire.
"Wait a minute! Doesn't Psalm 37:4 say "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart?"
Yes, that verse is absolutely true. But why do we reverse the order of that truth? Many of us believe if we come to Jesus, He will give us the desires of our heart, which then increases our delight in Him. We have deluded ourselves into believing that Jesus has any interest whatsoever in the desires of our sinful, fleshly nature.
What that verse (and many other passages) is actually saying is that when you delight in God, your desires will line up with His and He will give you those desires. If your delight is in the Lord, like Him, you will lose interest in worldly possessions and desires.
I am in no way suggesting that God does not bless us in material ways at times. I'm saying that when we find our deepest delight and satisfaction in God alone, our desires will change. The things we once deemed as most important become an afterthought in the sea of His boundless grace.
I'm saying God doesn't give you everything you ever wanted, He gives you a new heart and blesses you according to His Holy Spirit in you.
As a result, when we ask for comfort, He doesn't sprinkle a little comfort to make us feel better; He gives us The Comforter (John 14:16). When we ask for blessings, He reveals to us that, in Christ, we have received every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3).
It's like showing up to your favorite restaurant expecting your favorite meal; only to be told that they ran out. However, the waiter points out an entree that you've never had, and you realize that you've been missing out the entire time. Wanting your desires over what God has for you is like crying for the dollar menu at McDonald's when God is offering you an unlimited buffet at a fine steakhouse.
The Church in America unfortunately seems to be crying out for Western comforts and securities when God is offering eternal satisfaction if we would just let go of the things we have held as valuable and desirable. That's why this famous quote by C.S. Lewis still holds true:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
In all your efforts to build your life and follow Jesus at the same time, you're actually missing out on the greatest pleasure available to you: Jesus Himself. What else could we possibly believe is more valuable than the One who gave Himself for us? The One who alone is worthy of our affection and praise? Why are we frustrated that His desires do not line up with ours?
Instead, let us delight ourselves in Jesus, let Him change our hearts and find everything we never knew we needed.
