What Do You Want? | Gray Strickland

What do you want?

  

My wants can lead me to do stupid things.

My greatest regrets will almost always be connected to something I wanted.

Sometimes what I want in the immediate can keep me from what I really want in the future.

  

We can’t always trust our wanter.

  

Psalm 37:1-3 NIV

1 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. 3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

  

Psalm 37:5 NIV

5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:

  

Psalm 37:4 NIV

4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

  

Desires

  

Danger 1

Disordered Desires

Disordered desires diminish our desires' capacity to bring satisfaction.

  

Danger 2

Distorted Desires

Distorted desires eventually bring devastation to our lives.

  

Psalm 37:4 NIV

4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

  

Heart

  

  

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

  

Jeremiah 17:9 NIV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

  

Implications

- We live from our hearts.

- Our hearts can deceive us.

- Our hearts have to be protected.

  

Psalm 37:4 NIV

4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

  

Delight

  

"Delight in Me, and I will transform your heart to desire what you really want...and need."

  

What do we want?

  

How do we delight?

 

Psalm 18:19 NIV

19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

 

“Delight requires an attentiveness that affection does not. Delight communicates in subtle, crucial ways – ‘I see you. And having seen you, I enjoy you.’ It is in this seeing and enjoying with unconditional love and acceptance that delight holds its unique power. When a child sees a look of delight, they instantly know, ‘You want me here with you. I am indeed valuable to you, even though I am not adding much tangible value to this relationship and may, in fact, be causing a lot of trouble right now.’ A child seeing and interpreting a look of delight instantly understands that he is safe. Instead of being concerned or confused about his relationship with his parent, a child feeling a parent’s delight can focus his attention on discovering what he is capable of and developing his gifts and skills without having to waste energy pleasing his parent or worrying if he is going to be rejected." - Jeffrey Olrick