Have you ever really wanted something to happen, and it just won’t? Have you prayed and prayed for God to answer your specific prayer, and you feel that He won’t? Don’t give up! I want to give you a give some encouragement.
Our Dream to Start a Church
When Matt and I got married, we knew we wanted to be church planters. Matt was an intern at a church at the time, but our goal was to leave and start a new church. We figured it would only be about a year and a half. Four and a half years later, we were still working at the same church and the dream of starting a church seemed lost. We still had the desire, but God just wasn’t opening the door. We were so discouraged and hopeless.
Five years! That’s how long it took. It took five years for God to open the door for us to be able to leave that church and start a church in the greater Philadelphia area. We didn’t think it would ever happen, but we stayed faithful and God brought it to pass.
Waiting for Your Heart’s Desire
I don’t know how long it has been that you have been waiting for something to happen. Maybe it’s a baby, maybe you want to get married, to start your own business, to begin a ministry opportunity, to move to a new house… whatever it is, don’t give up on that dream!
Here are a few verses of encouragement to remind us not to give up on waiting for our heart’s desire.
Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Psalm 37:4-7 KJV
There are a few simple truths in these verses that I use over and over again to encourage myself and other women.
1. If I am truly focused on God, He will fulfill my desire, or He will change the desire.
When I delight in the Lord, He will fulfill my heart’s desire. The word delight means to receive pleasure in. When we take pleasure in developing a relationship with God, He will, in turn, fulfill our desires.
Sometimes this train of thought gets Christians tripped up. These verses don’t say that God is a vending machine, and if we put in the appropriate amount of money, exactly what we desire will come out. It’s deeper than that. If we are truly focusing on developing a better relationship with God, our desires are going to change to line up with His desires for us.
What does this look like practically? I often use these verses when talking to singles who want to be married. Either a relationship will come in time, or God will take away that desire and replace it with a desire to be single. In the mean time, they can focus on their relationship with God, while simultaneously praying and seeking out a relationship.
2. If I commit what I am doing to the Lord and entrust it to Him, He will bring it pass.
Focus on what God wants me to do whether in my life’s purpose or even just in what He has for me for the day, and let Him work out all the details.
I often quote this verse to God on a day when I am overwhelmed with a task or an event or even just a forever-long to-do list for the day. I pray through what I am trying to accomplish and surrender it to Him. Then I get to work, and God always carries me through.
3. I can be at rest while I am waiting patiently on God because I know He is working on my behalf.
The hardest thing in life is waiting. Whether it’s the little things in life like waiting in a long drive-through line, waiting to get a prescription filled, or waiting to check out at the grocery store. Or whether it’s more difficult than that… waiting for God to answer a prayer, waiting for God to heal a loved one, waiting for Him to provide financially once again. Waiting is hard. The Bible says that when a desire has not come to fruition, our heart is sick. But once the desire comes, it is a tree of life!
Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” KJV
Waiting for God to work can make or break our faith in life’s hardest moments. When the time comes that the only answer we have is to wait for God to work, we can delight in Him, commit the problem to Him, and then sit back and wait for God to work.
photo credit: Artem Bali
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