God's Faithfulness

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Ps 37:4

This verse has been taken out of context amongst several schools of theology. I've heard it used to promote a "santa clause" type of God, you know the one who will give you what you want if you perform for him.
I've pondered this verse hundreds of times, and if I were to be completely honest, I've tried to use it to my advantage. I can't tell you how many times I've prayed "God, you're my delight, now can I have....?" How easy it is to get sucked into the selfishness of using God for my personal agenda, rather than truly delighting in Him. As if that's not enough, I have pretended to know what the desires of my heart really are. I think that God must have fun laughing at my plans and my thoughts. In retrospect, I have fun laughing at my plans and thoughts.
You see, I have found in my life that as you delight in the Lord, I mean truly pursue Him above all else, He will begin to reveal His truest desires for your life. I believe that He's placed these desires in your heart, and that you just don't know what they are until you're so wrapped up in pleasing God that nothing else matters.
How do I know? It's like this. When I met Paul, I was on the heels of a bad break-up. My heart was mush, and I was convinced that I knew what I wanted. Heck, I thought I knew what God wanted. The truth was, I was so broken-hearted, I didn't know what was real. That is, the only thing I could be sure of was (and is) God's faithfulness. You see, it was during this time that I fell so completely into God's hands. There was nowhere else I could go. His heart was the only safe place for me. It was during this time that I met Paul.
Here's where this verse comes in....Paul is the man my heart has always desired, only I never knew it. He is nothing like I expected, or thought I wanted, but He is PERFECT for me, and God knew that. God, in His faithfulness, awakened my heart and gave me the desires that had been sleeping there in my heart. And now every day, I see God's heart in my husband. Every day I see that God knew exactly what I needed, and what I've always wanted, and He gave me Paul. And I can't tell you how many times I've thanked God that He didn't give me what I thought my desires were. Whew!
What are your desires? What are you delighting in? Let it be Him! God is so good. He is so faithful, and He loves you so much more than you could ever imagine. Fall into Him. Press into Him. It's worth it, not for the gifts He gives, but for who He is.
For meditation.....Jer 9:23-24
"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, For in these I delight."