Heart’s Desires

 

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

 

 

 

Orchids are so beautiful. I remember seeing them for the first time at Longwood Gardens with my mother in my early teens. I still think they are gorgeous and I see them everywhere now (Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart!). However, I have always assumed I did not have what it takes to keep one alive. 

Last week I got into a discussion with some ladies who were telling me how easy they are to care for. I didn’t run out and buy one but my interest was piqued again. 

Saturday I spoke for Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Wallingford, PA. At lunchtime the coordinator of the retreat told me that the Orchid in the center of our table was for me to take home. My immediate thought was that God had given me one of the desires of my heart, knowing I was too afraid to buy one for fear I would kill it. It is sitting in the sun on a windowsill in my dining room. It is beautiful! (Still!)

The last few weeks have been trying times for me. I have been attempting to trust God with some pretty tough circumstances involving people I love dearly. The list I had been keeping of the gifts from God has been set aside, not because He hadn’t been giving me any, but because sometimes it is hard to delight in the little things when the big things take up all the space in my thinking. 

That orchid is now a reminder of God’s concern for our smallest delights in life.  It has been a desire of my heart, not one I longed for and thought about or schemed to try to get. Rather, it was one I had resigned myself was not for me as I have watched many, much heartier houseplants, die under my care. 

In  Psalm 27:13 David says, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!” Whenever I read this verse I think that the Christian life has the hope of heaven but what a wonderful reminder that we don’t have to wait to get there to see the goodness of the Lord. He is good to His people, willing to give us the desires of our hearts, right here on earth!

In the next verse David encourages us, “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Some days my patience wears thin and I wonder what God is doing, why He hasn’t resolved these difficult issues as I have asked. David reminds me that God’s timing is better than mine, that I need to patiently, courageously, wait for Him to act. 

The orchid is a symbol to me of God’s faithfulness. He will act in His time. He knows my heart, He provides for me when I delight in Him. At the retreat where I was given the orchid, I was not just delighting in Him but in His people. They loved the teaching from His Word and they were encouraging and supportive. It’s easy to delight in a group like that! THEN, they gave me an orchid! 

As I delighted in His gifts, He gave me one of the smaller desires of my heart. I am seeing His goodness in the land of the living!