The Importance of Being There
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.—PSALM 37:4 AMP
We all have them. Things that are so dear to us we can’t share them with others. Feelings and desires that we don’t want to reveal for fear of being judged insensitive, unloving, selfish, or ambitious.
Only God knows these desires. In many cases He’s the One who has placed them in our hearts. The longing to see our loved ones well, happy, and fulfilled. Knowing God and following Him completely. The longing to be freed of certain responsibilities because they are hard to bear.
When we find ourselves in circumstances not of our own making and opposite of what we expected from the realization of our desires and dreams, it’s easy to turn away from God. Yet we’re told to delight in Him—to take joy in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, to rejoice in every situation, to praise Him because He is good and faithful and loving.
Delight in the knowledge that He is proving Himself to you as you deal with that special-needs child or dependent parent or spouse. Delight in knowing that God’s love never fails, His grace is always sufficient, and His presence is always near. He will grant us our deepest desires in ways we don’t expect.
Father, remind me to focus on You—on Your characteristics and attributes—as I walk the path You have set before me. Help me to experience Your love and grace, Your strength and wisdom, as I need them today,
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.—2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (NIV)
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.—Proverbs 19:8 (NIV)