Aligning your desires with God’s
Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:1-5 There are times that it is easy to lose sight of what should matter in life when you are focus on comparing to others your status in life. You get disappointed of what others have that you do not have. From the text, David told the people of God not to be sidetracked by comparing themselves to the prosperity of the wicked people. The measure of worth is not on what you have or do not have but who you are in the sight of God. David’s exhortation was to find their delight in the Lord by aligning their desires to God’s desires. Your relationship with God should be the source of your joy, pleasure and satisfaction in life. Like what the Psalmist said, everything in this world will wither and those that traded their lives for the things of this world will not last forever. Only those who are in the Lord will stay forever. “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal” (Mathew 6:19-20). You align your desires with God’s desires when you regularly spend time with Him in His word and in prayer. When you grow in your relationship with God, you are able to see life the way God sees it and you begin to long for what God desires. Even when you pray, you will notice that your prayer begins to be patterned to what Christ taught His disciples. You start to extol His Name and His praise and you long that His Kingdom expands and grows. ““Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). Ask God to cultivate within you a hunger for what matters to Him. Ask that His priority becomes your priority in life. This will help prevent selfishness to continue to permeate in your heart and instead of getting envious of others’ status in life, you find the joy and peace of knowing God that in Him you find satisfaction. As the Apostle Paul said exhorting Christians in Philippi; “...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13).
Blessings.
