But I Thought God Promised…

Sorry for a bit of a late post for today’s Encouragement Thursday! I’ve had a recurring thought come to mind and I decided it would inspire this week’s post, despite the fact that I didn’t get the idea by being encouraged from someone else. I actually think this is a reminder that God’s been placing on my heart because I really needed to hear it this week.

Take a look at this verse:

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:5

I’m sure many of you have read this verse and felt your heart swell with joy and contentment, until…you didn’t get what you wanted.

Then you came to God in anger, frustration, defeat, or maybe all of the above. You said to God, “I thought you promised to give me what I wanted if I trusted you and praised you. Why didn’t things work out the way I planned?”

I think we’ve all been there, in that place, wondering why God didn’t “come through” for us. But the thing is, many of us just haven’t interpreted this verse correctly. Yet, it can still be a source of encouragement for us, just in a different way.

You see, God is always going to do what’s best, even if we don’t understand why. And just because you desire something doesn’t mean it’s what’s best in the long run. We don’t know the future, only God does, so really, we should only want what God wants because He’s the only one who can have everyone’s best interests in mind.

In addition, we often like to take verses out of context, don’t we? That’s okay, I’ve done it plenty of times. But it’s important to read around the verse too.

The following verse says this:

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:

 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Psalm 37: 6-7

The key to God’s promise in these verses is that if we are following God and placing our lives in His hands, He will make sure our patience, trust, and obidence is not in vain. He will make sure that our lives are used to bring others closer to Him and He will fill us with His love and mercy. And of course, in the end, we will spend the rest of eternity in Heaven with Him.

Isn’t that an even better gift than getting that short-term dream fulfilled?

God never leaves us empty-handed. But we need to be willing to do our part and not expect the Creator of the Universe to do whatever we ask simply because we believe it’s what’s right.

If you trust God and ultimately desire His will to be done, then you will get the desires of your heart.

So today, think about what you desire in life. Are your desires following along with what God has told you in the past? Are you upset at God because He didn’t do what you asked?

I know it’s hard to understand God sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). But it’s important to think “big picture” about life. We really don’t know what’s ahead, but we don’t have to be afraid because God is in control. We just have to trust Him and commit our lives to Him. And in the end, it’s worth the wait.

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lordweighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:1-3