II Thessalonians 1:11
“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power”.
This passage speaks of God fulfillin desires. We are all full of them. Some are good, bad, and most are in between. Does God recognize our desires? Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” This verse describes how God will do so.
The first point is to delight ourselves in the Lord. This concept will seem foreign to some. Their thought is “Church is boring. How could I delight in God?” This individual’s desires will be all over the place. Proverbs 14:14 says, “The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his.” Many of these desires should be weeded out or altered. To delight one’s self in the Lord is to turn to Him and submit one’s life to Him. This is with full knowledge that much in the heart is not godly. We are trusting the Him to take us as we are and to work on things as He chooses.
As we delight ourselves in the Lord, He adjusts and weeds out our desires. They are cleansed and more in line with what is good. This is the person in whom God will fill his desires. Are these desires all church related? We should look back to creation. The Lord made this wonderful place to work and recreate in. He made us social creatures that crave the company of others. He put wonder and creativity in us. All those things are good. The famous Scottish olympian once said, “God made me fast. When I run I feel His pleasure.” The Lord wants us to live life. He wants to be right in the midst of it with us.
What about church work? Aren’t our desires supposed to be tied with it? As we live life fully our joy becomes full. This is very contagious. Our lives become a witness for Him. We will be involved with others. We will have relational struggles. However, we are to resolve them in a way that glorifies God by honoring and respecting others. There is much godliness in an ordinary life.
The bible speaks of how we are to use our talents. We are to serve one another. This may involve serving in some capacity at church. As we learn what we are good at, we will desire to serve in those capacities. We will pray for more effectiveness. We adopt His desires. We want to bless others with our service. The Lord will fill those desires.
Lord, thank You that You cleanse our desires. Thank You for satisfying them.