If You Only Knew

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. - Psalm 37:4-5

If I were to ask you, “What are the desires of your heart right now?” how would you answer me?

Do you want to be married? Do you want to move out of your parents’ house and venture out on your own? Do you want a different job? Do you want a best friend? Do you want to know what next year is going to look like?

What are you really wanting and hoping for right now?

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in our own hopes, dreams, and desires, and become convinced that we know exactly what will satisfy our hearts. But my friend Elaine reminded me that our desires for ourselves and God’s desires for us aren’t always the exact same thing.

She told me, “Kristen, you’re going to be so grateful that God did not give you your lesser desires, even though you would have sworn those were the things that would do the trick."

I’ve definitely been guilty of thinking that if God would just give me what I’m asking for, all of my problems would be solved. And so when those desires I have, the ones I’m sure will “do the trick” aren’t fulfilled, I get so disappointed. I question God, asking why He and I can’t be on the same page, why He isn’t giving me what I so desperately want.

I like to think that in these moments of my doubt and frustration, God smiles and says, “If she only knew...”

If I only knew what God had in store for me. If I only knew how His plans for me were so much better than my own. If I only knew what He was protecting me from. If I only knew how intentionally He was working behind the scenes to work things together for good.

If we only knew, then maybe we would be grateful that He didn’t give us our lesser desires, even though we would have sworn they would “do the trick.”

So instead of doubting God and getting frustrated by our unmet desires, let's choose to believe He knows what He’s doing. Let’s choose to trust that God has a deeper knowledge of our desires than we ever could. And let’s choose to hope in what He has in store, rather than assuming we have it all figured out.