Both of our sons are in a really exciting season of their lives – the beginning of their careers.
Do you remember that season of your life? Were you excited and terrified at the same time? Were you full of hopes and dreams for what the future would hold?
They’re full of big desires and big plans. In light of that they’re excited and scared at the same time. They’re exhilarated and terrified – they’re exhilified. Their desires are big on all fronts. And they’re making big plans based on those desires.
They’re causing me to think back to when I was their age. Anything seemed possible. The sky was the limit. I had lots of desires I wanted to see come to fruition. I had lots of desires that I was making plans for in order to bring them into reality.
Some of my desires were God-breathed, and some of them weren’t. God knew that. In His great mercy and grace God helped me to see where my desires were not in alignment with His.
In addition, some of my plans were not necessarily His. Once again, He graciously directed me and even thwarted my plans that were not His plans. And sometimes, because of my stubbornness and arrogance, He crushed my plans in order to draw me closer to Him in humble surrender so that my desires and plans would come into alignment with God’s best for me.
Desires and plans can get you in trouble. And, desires and plans can get you into God’s will.
I don’t know about you, but when I was in my 20’s and 30’s I had lots of desires and plans. However, it was during these years the Lord began purifying my desires. He was also thwarting some of my plans that were not His. The more this happened, the more cautious I became about looking at the desires in my heart and making plans accordingly.
Following this time of “purifying” it would have been easy to simply shut down my heart and not dare to desire anything more, to simply settle for what was – “This is all I can hope for.” Desire could easily flame out, and plans become non-existent. It would be easy to cave into the monotony of life, surrender desire and begin living a resigned life.
If we do not discover the delight of God by pressing through our issues that keep us at a distance from God, we can easily, as Thoreau said, “Live lives of quiet desperation.” Discovering the heart of God catapults us into a new realm of desire and plans – that of the desires of God and partnering with Him in His plans for us and for others through us.
In addition, as we age over the years and accomplish plans and fulfill desires we can end up having less and less desires and plans, and therefore, we age prematurely. I believe desires and plans can keep us young and vibrant.
Psalm 20:4 caught my attention recently. Well, actually, it stopped me cold right in the middle of my morning time with God.
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”
I sat there reading it over and over. I began musing with the Lord, what desires do I have? And, what corresponding plans do I have? Are my desires reflective of God’s desires? Are my plans in sync with His?
C.S. Lewis said, “Our problem is not that we desire too much, but that we desire too little.”
I’m feeling the nudging of the Lord to take a look at my desires. Am I desiring too little? Do my desires reflect the heart of God, or do they reflect the values of this world? Do my plans reflect the vision God has given me and the desires He has put in my heart, or do they reflect the things of this world?
What about you? Do you have desires and plans? Do you desire too little?
Ask the Lord about the desires He’s put in your heart, and the plans He has for you – I’ll bet they’re bigger than you think!
Psalm 37:4
“Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Proverbs 16:9
“The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
Psalm 73:25
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.”
Jeremiah 29:11
“’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’”