Infertility Awareness Month: Wounded by the Bible? (part 3)

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (NIV)

How often do we read this verse and then go about our day with the knowledge that if I dedicate my efforts to Him, and ask for His will, He will bless our efforts and grant those desires? And those suffering through infertility will cling to this verse – just as those well meaning friends will remind us of it. And so we continue in this vein, all the while becoming angry and disappointed that our desires aren’t being fed.

But that isn’t what the scripture says. We are to delight in the Lord, not tell the Lord to delight in our efforts. Verses five through seven (so rarely included in our quotations to others and ourselves) explain His promise. “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

When we delight in the Lord, our desire – the sole desire of our heart – becomes a more intimate knowledge of Him. And that desire is the one that He will give us. The more we seek to know Him and to commune with Him, the nearer to us He gets. This Psalm goes hand in hand with James 4:8-10 “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

If we really study the verse, it can become a healing thing for the hurting, so long as we realize it has nothing to do with God as a magic genie who gives us what we want and everything to do with the God of Heaven wanting to live in deep intimacy with us, regardless of our circumstances.