Giving Him Your All
“Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me. The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.” (Psalm 138:6-8, NIV)
A desire is a strong feeling of wanting or wishing to have something or to see something occur. A desire can be a strong feeling that controls your emotions, your actions, and your thoughts. What are your desires today? What are the things pulling on your heart strings pleading for attention? Is it a desire for love, validation, happiness, or material things? What if I told you all those desires, all of those things that you long for are just masking the only desire that will satisfy your soul?
This weekend, I went on a youth retreat with my church and along with playing games and goofing around, there were times where God’s spirit moved and unmasked lies within our hearts, in order to tend to the true desire of our hearts. That desire is a true, honest, and genuine relationship with God our Creator. See we desire, love, joy, attention, and care among any other things, all of which we search for in empty vessels, not recognizing that the only true vessels that satisfies all those desires is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!
Today, I want you to understand that no matter where you are coming from, wherever your heart is at or where your morals have been, Jesus wants you. Don’t let lies of hopelessness deceive you into believing that you are not worth it. The truth is, you are worth it. God created you with His own hands and loves you with all of His heart. He saw the travesty you were and the tragedies you would face, so He came down in the form of a child to save you from EVERY sin you were going to face and take part in. You are loved in such a special way by the Creator of this Universe. How amazing and mind-blowing!
God hears your cry. He sees your hurts. He sees your heart and all that it deals with, and He sees the empty desires that you long to fulfill for momentary satisfaction. This generation and world paints God as distant and uncompassionate. Many look at God with eyes of disbelief and bitterness, making it hard for us to see Him. But our key verse puts on perfect display what Satan creates! Satan is a master deceiver who places empty desires in your heart and masks you from the closeness and love of God. Open up your heart today to Him, in the serenity of His presence and get caught up in Him. Meditate on all He has done for you and give Him all your brokenness. The desire you have for His grace will be provided to you.
So if you’re asking where to start, here is your answer: just become vulnerable with Him and He will show up. He is a God that never fails us and is your truest friend and counselor. We are broken people with a perfect Savior, and even when we have Him we still try to do things our own way and stray from the truth of who He is.
Sometimes we have to go back to the simple moment of giving it all to God, surrendering all we are to Him, to be the person we want to be and be fulfilled in the ways we long for. Without God, we are utterly powerless going from thing to thing to make ourselves feel good, meanwhile we are so broken and confused on the inside.
There is a story I heard this weekend to describe our need for God and His utter love for us. The speaker of our conference this weekend was talking about the day his daughter was born. After hours of helping his wife through labor, it was finally the time for the baby to come. Suddenly, he sees her, screaming and crying and completely helpless, and he said he had never loved anything more. This baby was covered in blood, confused, crying for comfort and completely helpless without her father and mother.
See, in this situation the father is God, and we are that helpless baby. We are nothing without our Father and our Father loves nothing more than to be there for us.
You are more than valued by your Creator, you are His precious child, and all He wants to do is hold you through this life, catching your tears and defending you with His love. Surrender this morning to Him, run back into His arms because He loves you.
“You can’t know God until you know yourself and what is in the way of you pursuing Him.” - Rob Chesnut
