Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
This verse came to my attention at one of the down times in my life. I prayed for relief from serious financial problems as I clung to this verse believing God was going to send an angel down a moonbeam or something to rescue me, yet the problems continued. An answer eventually came four years later, but there was going to be no easy out.
As I look back over my life I see many hurdles and prayers that seemed to take forever to get answered. It was during those low times that I grew the most through soul searching and Bible study. I remember sharing in my Bible study group many years ago that maybe the reason God wasn’t answering a particular long time unanswered prayer was that in his wisdom he knew that to let the pressure off might cause me to relax and drift from my Bible study and prayer time.
Don’t get me wrong, I have seen many prayers answered in my life. God has answered them in his time frame, which always turned out to be on time. Some were like an angel coming in on a moonbeam – like when he worked it out for me to pay for my masters’ degree on school loans that would never have to be paid back – and like when I got a good paying job within one day of probable bankruptcy. But for me, the down times have been the times that pushed me hardest to seek God’s heart.
Down times are nothing new. Joseph spent years of down time in prison before he became the number one official for Pharaoh. Through many hardships, Joseph’s faith in God found a way to flourish.
David’s early years were spent as a shepherd. It was during those long lonely days that David learned to sing and play his harp and to trust God to enable him to kill a bear, a lion, and Goliath. David, known as “the man after God’s own heart,” spent many years being hunted down by jealous King Saul, but in spite of his hardships (or through them) his faith continued to grow stronger.
I have learned to thank God for the hardships and trials in my life because through them I’ve learned to trust him more and to see his heart in the little things we take so much for granted. We have so much in America. If we have a house, no matter how small, we are rich compared to the average family around the world. And if we have a heart’s desire to please God, we have everything we need.
Father God, thank you for the tough times that stretched me and caused me to seek after you. Help me to never let any hardship go to waste by not seeking your heart.
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