Many of us have a distorted view in relation to receiving our own desires. While some propose that we deserve everything what we want, the Bible gives a prescribed formula. Psalm 37:4 says that the requirement for receiving the desires of our hearts is for us to delight in the Lord. When we delight in the Lord, our desires align with His perfect will.
I must say that I have received the desires of my heart frequently, but it has often been for the wrong reasons. I can assure you I was not delighting in the Lord. I was delighting in my selfish pleasure and desire for personal gain. God allowed me to have what I wanted, but it came with a lesson and sometimes long-lasting consequences.
I have also discovered that some of my desires were not bad, but they were not God-given. Preaching is something I am passionate about, but that does not mean I am supposed to pastor a church or plant one. I have done all of the above. There are aspects I have enjoyed, but these are not for the faint of heart. I am passionate about music and worship, but many modern churches don’t have a fit for someone like me. That may be changing.
I have been contemplating the desires of my heart for the last several months. In fact, I have been assessing many things over the last several months. I have asked myself if my ability to preach was something that is a God-given gift or something a bunch of grannies lied and told me I’m good at. I have asked myself if I was pastor material since my church planting effort did not end as well as I would have liked. I have also asked myself if my musical ability was in my head. I guess, in these cases, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”. I had to interject some humor, while there is some truth to that.
I do know that I began to desire church ministry again early this year. I applied for a church that was way out of my comfort zone. It was very clear that God was not leading in that direction, but I met some really great people. I met with another church, and God clearly revealed that I was not the man for the job. I knew I would go into that and be a horrible fit. A most recent opportunity opened without me looking. The month of June will reveal what God is doing there. More info to come!
A final thing – I have wanted to be a consultant for smaller churches that were looking for some help in various ministry areas. Not the kind of “know it all” consultant who comes from out of town with a briefcase and has no idea of how to connect principles to a particular context, but someone who can take the principles and help churches apply them to their individual context. This is a rare find. It looks as if God is affording me an opportunity tomorrow night to explore a situation that I was contacted about last week. It is a very unique situation, but I should know this week if I can be of help in their context.
At the end of the day, the one thing I know is that you and I should be available to God. A guest speaker at church this morning said something along the line of “Your will, Your way, Your timing”. I honestly struggle with that, but God is reminding me to remain surrendered and available. God has so often taken available people who had some raw talent and multiplied their ability. As the game of my life is coming to the end of the second quarter, this is my prayer – God, take what little bit I have and multiply it for Your glory!
Matthew Winters (Honest Thoughts from a Pastor) 
While showering earlier tonight these exact words of Psalm 37 came to mind. As I pondered them, I heard the Lord say to me that as we journey learning to trust in the Lord and do good, while dwelling in the land and feeding on His faithfulness, and also delighting ourselves also in the Lord, that He begins to stir in our hearts and minds revealing His purpose, plan, and will for our lives. Once this takes place, we surrender our lives to Him and we slowly begin to get somewhat of a view and a vision of where He’s leading us and then He brings the desires of our heart into alignment with His will. We then begin to seek to align with His will in every facet of our lives and He subsequently gives us our heart’s desire which are NOW in alignment with His will….
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God…Romans 12:1-2
Amen and amen!! God bless you greatly, Matthew!! 😊
I understand how you feel! I can be impatient with God and maybe miss his timing in the process. Hopefully, this opportunity will work out for you, if that’s God’s will!
Thanks, Shae! I just want His will to be done.
Thanks for sharing; I see you growing as you’ve been on “sabbatical”. When we settle into a situation content to wait on the Lord, that’s often when He chooses to answer our desire for something else.Many times I’ve had to give thanks in/for a situation before He could lead me onto another. Let patience have her perfect work and rest in His love and timing. If things don’t look good, He’s not finished yet!
from music to preaching and everything in between, I have been asking the same questions, having the same doubts – you are not alone
I think many of us struggle in this area.
Let us always say to ourselves: YOUR WILL and not mine LORD! Thanks for your post!