The Desires of My Redeemed Heart

"Please be with the marriages in this church. Be with the men. Make them fathers who selflessly lead their families with wisdom and love. And be with the mothers as they teach their children. Bless their patience and help them as they serve in their homes. Bless the children, keep them in your care that they will grow to love you. And be with the singles and give them the desires of their hearts. Amen."

The desires of their hearts.

Hmmm.

What does that even mean? I hear people pray like this often and I always wonder what that prayer translates into. Has anyone ever stopped and asked a single person what the desires of his/her heart are? Or do we simply assume that the only desire a single person has is to be married and have a family? I can't speak for all singles but I wouldn't be surprised if for many that doesn't make it into the list of "top five desires". I'm sure, just as we are all made different but equal, that our desires vary from one person to another. However, here are a few of mine.

1. To be beautiful in God's sight as I live before His face

2. Forgiveness for failing Him all the time

3. To be content with the fact that the King of the universe is the Lover of my soul and Keeper of my heart.

4. To always have a gracious answer flowing from a gracious heart

5. To live life to the fullest as I run to heaven

Yes, it can be hard to keep perspective. Yes, there is a hole in my heart labeled "husband" and another with "family" but those holes are always and ever being filled with the love of Jesus. There is never a day when His grace and love are not sufficient for my needs. What more could I desire than to be wholly His?

Comments

Back in Time

I pulled into the laneway of a home that I'm sure would have looked quaint if I could have seen it through all the trees. The sign by the road read "hanging baskets and railroad ties" and lo and behold that was just what I was looking for (I mean the railroad ties, not the hanging baskets). I parked close to the grass incase a buggy had to get by and slipped out of the red mini van. I didn't see anyone. That, however, does not mean that someone did not see me. I strolled over to look at the flowers to wait for someone to come out and see what the crazy girl with the pony-tail was doing on their property. A large dog, missing his right eye, managed to find me first and it was while I was petting this friendly, half blind, beast that the house seemed to spit out a young lady. She was wearing a long dress, an apron, and a head covering. She walked toward me with a smile and I recognized her from a singing I had gone to at the neighbors place a few months earlier. I ...

Hope in Sadness

The Lord graciously made me with a happy disposition. My natural bent is joy. A couple years ago, however, something happened that shattered my heart. Due to the extreme emotional hurt, I was physically ill. I cried every day for weeks, then a couple times a week for months. For a long time I was sad. For years, the truest, deepest emotion I felt was sadness. When you live with sadness you get pretty good at carrying on. You live your normal life but where the world used to be full of colour, now your life is tinted by grief. If someone asked "how are you?" I could honestly say "good" because I was walking closely with God, but if someone had asked "how do you feel?" I would have had to reply "sad." Psalm 66 became the theme of my emotional experience. "You brought us through fire and through water, you laid a crushing burden on our backs." That's how I felt. All the time. Surrounded by fire and water, often burdened beyond wha...

Gifts; A Joyful Face

I sat at the booth and checked my phone to make sure my friend knew where to find me. She had just parked and was walking over. Perfect. I ordered a cup of tea and was contentedly sipping on it when she entered. Seeing me immediately, she made a beeline for our table, took her seat, and looked up. Her face was filled with joy as she asked how I was. "I'm good," I said, slightly amused. "Why are you so happy?" "Oh," she shrugged. "I just am." "I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices." ~Psalm 16:8-9a "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of a man reflects the man." ~Proverbs 27:19 Amidst all the sorrow and anger and fighting of our broken world this woman's face stood out. The joy in her eyes reflected the joy of her heart; a heart that had spent time with Jesus. Throug...

by jot and tittle

Search This Blog