Desires & the Beauty of His Will

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  The beauty of God's will is that it does not rest upon the desires of our own heart, but it carries out the best for the good of those who love Him, all while delighting in the thoughts and cries of a heartfelt prayer of desire. Our God delights in hearing from His children. Yes, how loving and good our God is that He would take so much pleasure in hearing the requests of His people! Yet I'm learning of the greatness of His love, a love that is wrapped around the will of God. Because as much as we may want that certain wish to come true, whether it be the grade, the bonus, the relationship, whatever we have been wishing and praying more than anything else, it is so much more essential to trust in the will and the ways of God. Sometimes the wishes of our hearts are only just a fading desire. It's a desire that exists in our life for a temporary time, but as life goes on, so do our wants and wishes. It's a difficult process, but the will of God and the plan He has for us is so much better, so much more worth it, than the dream we've been dwelling on. The God who knows our entire future, who carries every page of the book of our lives in His hands, is willing to carry out the best for His children. So why trust in our own desires, when our hearts can be deceiving? Why ask God for what we think is best, when He's the One who knows every detail of our lives, every second of our future, and who knows us from the inside out? His Will contains a future that is so much greater than we could ever imagine. Yes, His ways may contain some of our desires and dreams (as I said before, He delights in hearing from His children and in answering the prayers of those who seek Him), but oftentimes, He loves us too much to let us have our own way. He loves us too much to give us the desire that we think we really want, a wish that will just end in destruction in the long run. His ways, His best for our lives, will never lead to destruction. Yes, the tough times will still come, but His ways will yield a fruitful character, a heart trusting more and more in Him daily, and especially a life of blessing and good gifts.

  After all, Jesus was in deep sorrow at the thought of going to the cross, yet He still went to His Father and asked for His will to be done. He knew that as tough as His life was sure to become, He came to earth to save His people from their sins. Deciding to trust in the sorrow of His heart and the desires of His soul would ultimately defeat the purpose of coming to earth. God's ways were carried out, and His sacrifice led to the salvation of the world.

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42

  So that wish, that desire consuming our hearts and minds every second of every day, should no longer be our true desire if it's not God's best for our lives. As much as we want to believe that it is best, God's ways are so much better in the long run. I've been through it, and I'm experiencing this now. But as I look back on answered prayers, I see that my prayers were not always answered the way that I thought they would be. I've seen that my desires are nothing compared to the desires that God has for my life. And I'm so grateful that He carried out His ways for me, because I would never be able to experience much of what is a large part of my life today, if it weren't for a God so loving that He carries out His will for my life.

That thing you've been wishing for? Give it to God. He might just give you what you want. But maybe, just maybe, He'll give you what you've really been wishing for all along.