Shape Our Desires
“Shape our desires, that we may long for what Your arrival brings.”
Psalm 37:4 (ESV)
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
As we prepare our hearts for Christ's coming, we are invited to allow the Lord to shape our deepest longings and desires. Too often, we cling to our own agendas and notions of what we believe we need or want. But true fulfillment can only be found in aligning our hearts with God's perfect purposes. The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
Left to our own devices, our desires can lead us astray, trapping us in a cycle of dissatisfaction and discontentment. Our hearts are prone to wander, quickly captivated by the fleeting allures of this world - wealth, status, pleasure, and power. We find ourselves chasing after hollow pursuits that leave us empty and disillusioned. But as we submit ourselves to God's refining work, He transforms our wants, needs, and desires. The Advent season encourages us to press pause on our self-centered agendas and instead ask the Lord to reshape the core of who we are. What do we indeed long for? What are the deepest desires of our hearts?
What does the arrival of Christ truly promise? Forgiveness, restoration, eternal life. As we wait with open hands and yielded hearts, may the Lord cultivate in us a longing for the salvation, peace, and joy that only He can bring. May our desires be reordered to mirror the heart of our Heavenly Father, who longs for His wayward children to return home.
This Advent season, the Spirit may expose any idols or false hopes that have taken root in our lives. Are we clinging to temporary pleasures or chasing after the hollow pursuits of this world? Or are we positioning ourselves to receive the complete, lasting joy of Christ's incarnation? Perhaps we have grown complacent in our faith, our longings for God's kingdom crowded out by the allure of earthly comfort and convenience. Or maybe we are wrestling with disillusionment, our hopes for a better world shattered by the brokenness we see all around us. In these moments, Advent invites us to surrender our agendas and embrace God's transformative work.
As we yield our desires to the Lord, He will reorder our loves, aligning our deepest longings with His perfect plan. We may be surprised to find our wants shifting and our priorities rearranging as we conform more and more to the image of Christ. But in this sacred transformation process, we discover the true satisfaction that can only be found in a life surrendered to God. No longer shackled to our selfish ambitions, we are liberated to embrace the joy and peace that Christ's arrival promises.
Our eyes are opened to see the world through the lens of God's redemptive purposes. Our hearts are stirred to long for the restoration of all things, the triumph of justice, and the reign of the Prince of Peace. We may ardently pray this Advent, "Shape our desires, that we may long for what Your arrival brings." In aligning our deepest wants with the heart of our Heavenly Father, we find the true fulfillment our souls have been yearning for all along.
Take a moment to reread today’s Scripture passage and then spend some time reflecting on the following questions:
Psalm 37:4 (ESV)
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
What do you most deeply desire this Advent season? How can you allow God to shape those desires to align with His will?