Long way to go

As a pre-adolescent, I, like many my age(12ish), discovered boys. Oh my. And in my infinite wisdom and deep understanding of the Bible, I clung to a verse believing that since I "desired" this boy in my heart, that God would cause said "boy" to desire my heart as well!
Are you familiar with the verse? "Delight yourselves also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 See? It says it right there! All I had to do was to "be happy in God" and he would give me whatever I desired in my heart!
Oh, wait. That's not really what it means is it? Well of course not! Now don't you feel silly?! I certainly do looking back over years of immaturity and discovery. Alas, our past and our mistakes and our successes all play a wonderful role in who we are now. Thankfully, I have grown significantly and am finally becoming what I think God intended for me to be. A student. A learner and an "imparter" of that learning. Sounds fancy, huh? ( Please note that I do temper all imparting with a disclaimer releasing me from any liability in the likely event that I am completely wrong!)
In a recent Bible study, Wisdom for Mothers by Denise Glenn, I was reminded of this verse and was challenged once again to evaluate what this verse, lived out, looks like. Denise was referencing a period in her life in which she and her husband were having to make difficult decisions and felt no clarity from God in it (sound familiar?) She touched on this verse and stated, "How can God give you the desires of your heart if your desires don't meet His?" Boom. There it is.
We must first allow God to place His desires in our hearts by being in relationship and fellowship with Him in order to allow Him to fulfill those desires. Perhaps confusing at first glance. I think going back to the first part of the verse is key. "Delight yourself also in the Lord." What does it mean to delight in something? Once reference says "to be happy about to make merry over"
Matthew Henry's Commentary states this regarding Delighting in the Lord.
We must make God our heart's delight and then we shall have our heart's desire, v. 4. We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in him. We must be well pleased that there is a God, that he is such a one as he has revealed himself to be, and that he is our God in covenant. We must delight ourselves in his beauty, bounty, and benignity; our souls must return to him, and repose in him, as their rest, and their portion for ever. Being satisfied of his loving-kindness, we must be satisfied with it, and make that our exceeding joy, Ps. xliii. 4. We were commanded (v. 3) to do good, and then follows this command to delight in God, which is as much a privilege as a duty. If we make conscience of obedience to God, we may then take the comfort of a complacency in him. And even this pleasant duty of delighting in God has a promise annexed to it, which is very full and precious, enough to recompense the hardest services: He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him
 I'm learning the key is to immerse myself in the Word and let it speak to my heart. I need to ask for wisdom and understanding and He will allow this to come to my heart either through a renewed passion, a new understanding or maybe even through a friend and open discussion. I'm no pro at this. Discipline is definitely one of my shortcomings that I hope to improve on. I hope to share with you over time my journey in delighting and immersing and report on God's goodness through it all.
Your heart will begin to desire those things you are taking delight in.
What do you desire today? Me? Well, at the moment, Zaxby's sounds good! Oops. That's not exactly what we were talking about was it?


Delighting-In the Meantime,
Heather