Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
I don’t even know how to express my excitement or gratitude towards the Lord for every time He’s delivered on His promises. I’m not talking about the promises that are plain as day like the healing He’s done or the salvation He offers. Those things are GREAT, but when it comes to the more vague promises, when those are answered, I jump for joy.
(Let me reiterate, I LOVE that God is faithful and keeps His promises especially salvation! For the sake of this post, we’re taking salvation out of the equation because then I’ll sound like a super horrible jerk that seems like I don’t appreciate what Jesus did for me.)
Okay, back to the story.
When your heart wants things that are not clearly defined as something we will receive, then it gets a little tricky. For example, I wanted Chacos for a long time. When I knew I was going on the World Race, I figured it would be a good enough reason to get some. Problem was… they’re expensive. I don’t think I’ve every paid over $50 for shoes and the Chacos I wanted were $110. Yeah. Do you see how $110 sandals don’t seem like a vital necessity for the World Race that would cost over $17,000? Yeah, me too.
I held onto hope that I’d be able to get the sandals, but finally one day I decided I wouldn’t try to get them. It was an expense that I could cut. Want to know what happened the day after I made that decision? The Lord provided for all of my World Race gear including, you guessed it, the Chacos I wanted.
Chacos weren’t an absolute necessity, but in that moment the Lord whispered, “I know what your heart’s greatest desires are. They’re not there for nothing.”
My Chacos are practical and they will help, but they aren’t a promise outlined in the Bible. God says He’ll provide, but it’s not always in the way we think.
Side note: please understand that God isn’t a genie and isn’t going to provide super expensive shoes or an unnecessary thing just because you asked. What is the condition of your heart and why are you asking for it? If you have impure motives, chances are, you probably won’t get it. Just saying.
Hear me out. There are things that I’ve wanted that I haven’t gotten. I’m sure they weren’t what was best for me at the time and I’m okay with that. The Lord knows what He’s doing and He’s working everything out for good.
A couple years ago, God put Greece on my heart. He planted a seed and it’s been growing ever since. I knew I had to go there. I think I’ve only told one person about it. I didn’t want to say anything and be disappointed in the long run so it wasn’t something I ever really shared.
When picking a World Race route, I tried to go on a route with Greece in it and guess what? There actually was one where we’d end up going to Greece! Clearly, I didn’t choose that route. I wanted to pick it, but I knew I wasn’t supposed to.
Jesus says to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. Okay. Done. Even though Greece has been on my heart, He doesn’t promise it. I couldn’t say “Lord, I thank you that you will provide according to your riches so that I can go to Greece.” Well… I could, but it may not turn out as expected.
Want to know what happened this morning? We got an email that our route has changed. Can you guess what country I’ll be going to for month 8? GREECE. Yeah. I couldn’t believe it either. I had secretly been hoping that maybe I’d be able to visit Greece on an off day while in a neighboring country, but never did I think I’d be able to be there for the whole month!
I’m so beyond excited to be able to serve in that wonderful country next year! The Lord is awesome and so loving. He continues to leave me speechless.
So. My new route is as follows (two countries changed):
Mongolia
China
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
Bosnia
Albania
Greece
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
Signed,
Sam
