Ever take on a project,  get halfway in and realize that what is required to finish the project is way beyond your time, skill set and knowledge?  For a moment, step back and take a big picture look at what God desires for humanity, what He wants us to experience in this life:

•  Every person fearfully and wonderfully made in His image, giving others a glimpse of Himself (Genesis 1:26-2 , Psalm 139)
• Every person created to make a difference, to bring about a unique good for others (Eph 2:10)
• All of us together, a unified and interdependent people, where every individual is valued immensely (1Cor 12:4-27, Rms 12:4-5)
• Each with hearts full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-23)

This is but a small glimpse of what God has planned for those who love Him and are called to His purposes.  Try on our own to live out all these things for just one week and we are bound to feel just how much we are in over our heads and out of our depth.  But you gotta admit it sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?   God made us wanting deep meaning, rich relationships, significant work and hearts full with wonder and joy.  He never meant for us to find any of it without Him (Matt 6:33, Psalm 37:4) but to find all of it IN Him and THROUGH Him (Col 1:16).  The desires in our hearts are meant to send us to Him.  Daily.  Hourly.  Minute by minute.  He put desires for all these things in our hearts and said, “Let Me show you the way to wonders beyond your wildest dreams” (John 14:6, 1Cor 12:4-6).

But for many this is not how it looks or feels.  For many, life feels quite the opposite.  And the obvious question is “Why?”  Why aren’t I experiencing the riches God made me for?  This is a huge question that whole books are dedicated to answering, so what I will say next is only one piece of the answer.  It just so happens, though, it’s one piece you have a choice about today.  Our lives lack their fullness and wonder because we try to make life work on our own.  We don’t like to wait for or wait on God (at times it doesn’t even occur to us to consult Him) so we move ahead with our own ideas and strategies which actually move us away from what we want and need.

I have been learning this lesson for decades, particularly with relationships.  I didn’t always know that my longing for connection was sometimes meant to move me towards people and other times meant to move me toward God.  He has firmly closed (sometimes barricaded) certain relational doors to help me to recognize when He is drawing me to Himself.  So when I pounded on those doors and no one answered it looked to me like I was unwanted.  Left out.  Invisible.  When in fact I was wanted and chosen … wanted and chosen by the Creator of the universe.  This misreading of my circumstance has had me spiraling miserably into deep doubt and despair so many times.  But now, when the desires for connection arise and I take the time to listen for what God would have me seek or pursue, I experience rich encounters, sometimes with God and other times with people. Not every time, of course.  There’s no formula here.  But in general, as a whole, my life continues to get relationally richer, as I increasingly turn to God with my longings.  And I absolutely see it to be true in the lives of those who come to see me.  God wants all of our lives to be full (John 10:10), and He is the love, power, perseverance and faithfulness needed to bring it about.  Desire Him.  Seek Him.  Trust Him.

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

Psalm 37:4