“However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel.” (1 Kings 11:37)
Expanded Passage: 1 Kings 11:34-38
For twenty years I have prayed for a child to be born into our family, but it has not happened. All the while, my husband and I have served God faithfully. Not perfectly. Faithfully. We moved where God impressed upon us to move and carried out ministry in ways that God called us to.
My heart’s desire was to have children but I have had other desires too. While I was waiting for a specific birth, God started birthing all my other dreams. I cannot think of one core longing that I have had that God has not fulfilled. Have I been let down? Yes. Have all those desires been fulfilled in the way I anticipated? No. But amidst pain and disappointments, as I have pursued him, God has orchestrated a gratifying and joyful life that is no longer dependent upon my plans.
Inside the promise to fulfill heart desires in his Word, God knows that his presence is a human being’s core aspiration. Everything else a person could want or “rule over” pales in comparison. God created us to be in relationship with him and longs that we choose to do so. I have learned that when bad things happen, it is less a dashing of dreams and more an opportunity to lean into my heavenly Father’s arms. Being close to him is the greatest desire one could possess.
Determine to seek God himself more than anything else.
Sarah Cochran received an MDiv from Wesley Seminary and is an ordained Wesleyan pastor in the Florida District. She and her husband, Tom, work for an agency rescuing kids from trafficking.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
