Briefing: Has anyone ever offered to give you the desires of your heart? Has the job fulfilled the desires of your heart? Maybe we should start by looking at ourselves and take an honest appraisal of our heart to see what we truly desire.

Dispatch (Assignment): Make a list of desires. Once you have completed your list, check each item as a desire of your flesh, desire of your pride, or a desire of your heart.

On the Street: Do you really know what you want out of life? What are your goals? Do you want to be a police chief? Do you want to have a picture perfect family? Is your desire to be rich and famous?

What is it going to take for you to get all of the things you desire? How do you achieve your goals? Is there a magic formula to make it all happen? There is a way to get the desires of your heart but this destination can only be reached by one path. Psalm 37:4 (HCSB) says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.”

God does not say that He will just give you whatever you ask for. There is a requirement, “Delight yourself in the Lord”. We must understand that without delighting ourselves in the Lord there will be no giving of the desires of our heart.

Proverbs 16:1-3 (NIV), “To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.”

Proverbs 16:1 makes a distinction between “the plans of the heart” and “the desires of the heart”. All of our (human) ways seem right to us, but true right and wrong is judged by God. We can know His truth by reading His Word. When our plans and path line up with His, we begin to delight in Him. Webster’s dictionary defines delight as “a high degree of gratification, something that gives great pleasure.” Do you get a high degree of gratification and great pleasure in worshiping God? Do you hunger and thirst for His Word? Matthew 5:6 (NIV), “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled”

Proverbs 10:24 (HCSB), “What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them.”

Here we are back to the “desires will be given to them”. To make a point, it says the desires of the righteous, Matthew 5:6 tells us to hunger and thirst for righteousness and we will get it.

We saw in Proverbs 16:3 that if we commit what we do to the Lord HE will establish our plans. In verse 9 (NIV) it says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Not only will He establish our plans but He will establish (same word) our steps. Our required action is to COMMIT to the Lord. Do your plans match up with God’s plans?

Proverbs 13:12 (HCSB), “Delayed hope makes the heart sick, but fulfilled desire is a tree of life.”

God longs to give us the desires of our heart, He is anxiously waiting for us to commit to Him. Like an earthly father who want to see his kids do well and longs to reward them for doing good, our heavenly Father wants it much, much more. Jesus tell us, in Matthew 7:11 (NIV), “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

I was eating lunch with an officer today. The cafeteria was serving hot wings. He said, “I have not had hot wings in months and I was just thinking about them today on the way to work”. I made the comment, “God gives us the desires of our heart. Maybe He is using this small example to remind you that He loves you”. The officer said, “I hope so, I really need it right now”. I sat there thinking about this conversation and a thought came to mind. Just like when we are in a relationship with someone we care about, we like to do small things for them to let them know we are thinking about them and we care for them. God likes to do the same for us because He loves us.

The second part of this life lesson is if we are not in the Word (reading the Bible) then we may miss the gifts of God. Can you imagine your spouse doing something nice for you and you don’t even recognize what they did. You missed the blessing, it was there and you may have benefited from it, but if you don’t recognize the act of kindness, you miss the biggest part of the blessing. The God of the universe did something nice for you, just dropped you a note, to let you know He cares and you missed it!

We don’t have to miss His blessings. It is more important to see the act of kindness behind the blessing than the actual blessing. It is in the act of kindness that we are reminded of His love for us. The love is the real blessing, do not miss it. Stay in His word so that you may recognize His acts of love in your life.

Proverbs 3:5-8 (HCSB), “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. Don’t consider yourself to be wise; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones..”

Investigational Resources: Psalm 37:4, 20:4, 21:1, Matthew 6:21, 33, Romans 8:28, I Corinthians 6:12, 10:23, 1 Peter 5:7, 3:3-4, James 1:19-21, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Officer Safety Principle: Have you committed your ways to the Lord Jesus Christ?

from The Book of Proverbs Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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