Words of Hope: Love Wins
One of my favorite lines in scripture says—“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” It’s located in two passages; Dad and I memorized Psalm 20 and Psalm 37. Dad and I talked about this often—what did he want? I think he had to have a serious heart check after he realized being cancer-free wasn’t on the table. Dad distilled his desire down to this phrase, “Love God and love people.” It’s not only a goal but a heart’s desire. This phrase is a simple way to clarify issues in my life. I like this phrase because it is an excellent plumb line to determine if what I want is something for my ego or if it aligns with this mission. Loving God must be primary because I can’t love people without God. I am short-tempered, worried, and caring about looking good rather than being who God wants me to be. Insults bug me; I am distracted. But with God first, I let go of fear, control, my personal agenda, and an ambition to be best, first, liked, or right.
The other day, I was wrestling with a hardship and asking God for something different. I want this to work out; why? Because I want there to be justice—why? Because I want there to be unity—why? Because I want love to win, I want goodness to prevail. If that is the case, God promises this will happen. The desire of my heart for goodness to win, love to triumph—is assured in scripture. A flood of great joy fills me when I remember this. My feelings of frustration, of impatience, melt away. Love wins! This is my heart’s desire.
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart.” – Psalm 20: 4 and Psalm 37:4
