Delight Yourself in the Lord

Do you sometimes struggle with some of the promises of Scripture; as you care for your loved one, dear caregiver?  Psalm 37:4 in the Bible says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."  As a caregiver for my husband, I sometimes struggled with that verse. Watching my husband's body deteriorate step by step certainly did not feel like the desires of my heart were being met.  Losing him eventually to death certainly did not seem to meet that criteria either.  In both cases I felt my heart was breaking.

So what does the promise in this verse really mean?  I believe it means that if we delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us our greatest desire.  He will give us Himself.  It is only the Lord that can fill that longing we have in us for intimacy and for eternity.  We know this world is only temporary and does not satisfy.  Only He can satisfy that empty place within our souls.  I think this passage also means that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires He wants us to have and not our own selfish or unwise desires.

That kind of delighting ourselves in the Lord is the only source of peace in times of trial.  It may be your only source of sanity and joy; as you face the often challenging and sometimes overwhelming moments of caring for your loved one, dear caregiver.  Your love for your Lord and your delight in the Lord is the only thing which is going to get you through those days.

Delighting in the Lord is like a refreshing oasis in the wilderness of family care-giving.   Just gritting our teeth and plowing ahead in our care-giving duties will eventually wear us out.  Seeking the diversions of the world's pleasures for respite will only prove temporary.  Finding pleasure in the Lord can get us through the most difficult of moments.  The Lord wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love Him in an all-consuming way.  Sometimes difficulties in our lives (like family care-giving) actually awakens our hearts and emotions to the Lord.  It grows our love for the Lord and our intimacy with Him.  It helps us to delight ourselves in Him.  Rich blessings come from that in the midst of the challenges.

Dear caregiver, delight yourself in the Lord.  Love Him with all your heart.  Rest in Him.