Heart-full

Not getting what you want can make you feel sick, but a wish that comes true is a life-giving tree. (CEV)

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. (AMP)

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (NIV)

Proverbs 13:12

How very true are these words? The thing you want most out of life and not getting it makes your heart sick. Literally hurting and you find yourself catching your breath because the pain is almost unbearable.
Heartsick. That is the word I am sure a few of you can certainly relate to. Being so wounded and crippled by fear, uncertainty, endings and beginnings, changes and words said in a moment of emotions running away. It can break you down and hurt to the point where you cry yourself to sleep at night- hoping- praying- wishing- just knowing this can't be the end of the story. Hurt to the point that you bring on more stress to your already tired and worn heart and break it down some more.

Thankfully, there is that small 3 letter word that CHANGES everything. It is almost read over and skipped sometimes, yet it is SO important to how the game plays out. But. b-u-t. There it is. This small word changes so much.

Having heartsickness is overwhelming, BUT, thankfully, this verse does not stop there. It says when your desires, wishes, and longings are fulfilled, come true, and made real- it is a life giving tree. Your soul is restored. The depths of your unreasoning has had a revolutionary breakthrough in the hardened soil. Roots stretch far and wide, bringing you the things you need to get over this heartsickness. The parts above the surface shine bright and are made new and beautiful. Crunchy faded leaves have a resurection and color flows through their cells again. There is something different about you in that instant that your deepest desires and the things you find yourself pinning relentlessly over come to the point where they aren't dreams anymore. They are real. You just witnessed a modern day miracle.

Psalm 37:4 says  Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (NIV). Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart (AMP). Do what the Lord wants,

and he will give you your heart’s desire (CEV).


I know these verses go hand in hand. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. When those desires aren't fulfilled it makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, life is given back to you.

Sometimes, God sees fit to not reveal the fulfillment of the God-given desires he has placed in us because he needs us to either find that contentment in him, be refined and made more to look like Christ instead of ourselves, or because we let our earthly fleshly desires take over like a diva in a play and God is kicked off stage so our egos can have the full attention.

The desires that you have in you were put there by the Creator of feelings- the Sustainer of longings, and the Prince of Peace who calms the seas that rage within us. If he put it there, and you fully completely wholeheartedly believe that his word is true, he will make it happen at the appointed time. Not your time. Because your time is set by an imaginary calendar with fixed deadlines and appointments that can not be missed. BUT when God gives you the desires of your heart, it restores your life.

God is big. He is amazing. I still find myself at a loss for words (hard to believe, I know you just said) for what is happening around me. Good things. Great things. Absolutley God things. Desires that I had supressed and even thought I had cremated suddenly have been brought back to life like a patient who had the boards used on them. The heartbeat has been found again.

I know God is at work in me and around me. Sometimes, more often than you think, God is going to blow you away with the way he changes things up on you. It is going to hurt a little while if we don't get/have/see the things/people/blessings, but he gives us God-sized desires that only HE can make a reality. My tree was pretty much dead and chared- left with a worm eaten heart and only remnants of wilted leaf memories.
But I say unto you today, life has been restored to these dry bones. There is a smile as wide as the Milky Way on my face, and my heart is filled to the brim. Color now bursts on the screen and black and white fade into the background. The desires of my heart are starting to be fulfilled- and I am so excited. God is always at work, even when we give up on him. He put those desires in you- and He will make them real.

Hold fast to the promises of His word, and you too will find that God is the best gift giver ever.  This Bound 4 More journey is truly looking up. 625, oh happy day, this is just the beginning.