Today, we take a few moments to talk about the desires of our hearts. These are the things we are often so afraid of giving to God, because we’re afraid He will take them away instead of fulfilling them. But where did they come from in the first place? Check it out…

The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.
Proverbs 11:23 (NIV)

Let’s talk for a few minutes about the desires of our hearts. The world says you should follow every desire and every whim. On the contrary, the church oftentimes seems to say you should avoid every desire, that desire equals lust or gluttony or some kind of fleshly sin. I think both extremes are wrong. Let’s see what God says about desires.

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4 (NKJV)

The word “give” can mean a few different things. First, it can mean things like: to put, to bestow, to entrust, to appoint… These words all indicate someone giving something to you. See, I believe this verse has a dual-meaning. First, God gives us the desires of our heart, just like He gave Adam the need for companionship; He puts the desires there. If we’re following God, seeking Him first and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), we can trust that He is depositing the desires in us that He wants us to have. Does that mean that every desire I ever have is from Him? No, let’s not take it to unhealthy extremes (obviously, God didn’t give me the desire to overeat at dinner… Those are temptations, not God-given desires). Now let’s look at the way we often read this verse. “Give” can also mean things like: to deliver, to yield, to produce, to grant. These words all indicate the fulfillment of a desire. So after God puts the desires in us, then He also takes it upon Himself to fulfill those same desires! How cool is He?!

To lay to rest the question of, “Does God want me to be single forever?” I would have you ask yourself this question instead: “Do I desire to be single forever?” If your answer is “yes,” then more power to you! That’s awesome, and I know that you will enjoy the road of Single! However, if your answer is “no,” then chances are that God doesn’t want you to be single forever, either. I truly believe that if we have submitted our entire lives to Him, including our hearts and dreams and desires, then we don’t have to be afraid of Him taking those things away or withholding them from us. I truly believe the desire for marriage came from Him in the first place, so I can rest assured that one of two things will happen: 1. As I continue walking with Him, He will slowly and gently change my desire, or 2. He will fulfill that desire in His perfect timing (Argh… That’s the hard part).

If we are following Him, spending time with Him, and seeking after Him, then we can trust all our other desires to Him. He’s not going to withhold something good from us to cause us misery! God loves giving us gifts we will find delightful! Jesus even told us so…

9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Matthew 7:9-11 (NKJV)

It goes back to understanding the heart of our Father. He won’t give us the desire for marriage and then withhold marriage. Now, He may withhold it for a season, until we’re ready. But we can trust our Father that if He gave us the desire for lifelong companionship in marriage, He will indeed fulfill that desire, not as a concession, but because He delights to do it!

So let us no longer wrestle with the question of whether or not we can live happily in full devotion to God and still be married at some point down the road. God has given us a desire for covenant. We must simply realize that the relationship between God and Adam was established first. Then came marriage – man and wife. The three were never intended to compete with one another, but to live in a perfect display of both supernatural and natural love.