"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart"
Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
By Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be like Lucia at Fatima and be so holy that I would see a vision of the mother of Christ. I stared at church walls for great lengths of time, sure that it would happen if I tried hard enough. I wanted so much to be important and special. I knew the priests and nuns would look at me different. I knew then they would want to listen to me. It didn't take more than a year or so before I realized that was hopeless (must have had to spend too much time in the confessional) .
When we were young in our marriage, we had little money and I really wanted this brown plaid jacket. I knew it would give me just the style that would impress all. I spent more than I should have and did not tell my husband. When I wore it, I never felt good in it.
Since I was a child I had wanted more than anything to have a horse. That stuck in the back of my mind until I was in my 50s and we moved to Minnesota. My husband said that when we get some acreage we could get the horse of my dreams. Well, my fantasy dream of owning a horse became a vision of shivering in the cold winters as I was trying to melt water troughs or shoveling out stalls with clothes pins on my nose and of breaking bones as I fell off the horse. My hubby was quite taken aback when I said I did not want one anymore.
In each life phase I had different desires, each would seem that they would fulfill me in some way, shape or form but it never happened. Most of the time the true desire of my heart was to fit in, be valued and to have someone just want to be around me because they wanted to not because they had to. Even after my marriage (almost 38 years ago) with a dear husband who has always complimented me and wanted to be with me, I had that same deep desire to "fit in". I am sure if a therapist got a hold of me they would say it is that child in me who never had an adult (including parents) give her special attention or tell her anything positive about herself. That my inner child had an emptiness that needed to be filled.
I did not need a therapist though, I needed God. I did not come to know Him from anyone's testimony or sermon but through God's own gentle nudging and proding. It was through seeing the awesome creation of my first child and of knowing that she was more than a bunch of molecules that accidentally collided. I wanted to find out who this Creator was that could form such a precious wonder. I drew from my Catholic background, I found a musty old Bible and searched. As I searched, God gently filled that vacuum in me. I realized He had a purpose and reason for my existence. He - my Creator, Rock and Savior -wanted to spend time with me! He let me know I was truly special and all my abilities were His special gifts to me! What a delight!
As I write this I realize just how much God has given me. He has given me all the desires of my heart but not until my heart was aligned with His... until I found delight in Him and wanted to live per His will. Then the well of emptiness was filled with His Grace.
I have learned that neither possessions nor people can fill the desires of my heart but only God can. That the only true desire that produces change, peace and joy is the desire to follow Him.
- - - -
So why do I suggest you check out our wonderful talented sellers on Etsy? Because God gifted them with talents that they can share to assist in supporting themselves and to bless others. And sometimes we are blessed enough to be able to find some wonderful items to enhance our lives or even something totally unneeded to bring a smile to us or to someone we care about.
Comments (15)
Thank you for the reminder that only God can fill our needs.
Beautiful items from my sisters in Christ!
http://christiecottage.blogspot.com
<><
Thank you for that wonderful witness!
Absolutely beautiful. Very touching post. Only God can fill those holes in our hearts and give us our desires.
Wonderful post...reminds me of a song...
"Lord, You are more precious than silver. Lord, You are more costly than gold. Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares to You."
:o) button
Beautiful post Phyliss. I am reminded of a song, too. "You're all I need, you're all I've ever wanted........"
Wonderful and thoughtful post.
Absolutely beautiful blogpost, Phyllis! And truer words there could not be. God is all we need...anything else He will provide ;-) Great shop/item choices also!
God bless~
Kelly
AngelPupsCreations
Beautiful pieces. The heart is such a small organ. Amazing how large it's purpose is.
God Bless,
Creationsbycurry
Lovely Phyllis :o)
Isn't our Father wonderful?!
He cares about every detail and need so lovingly...
xox, /daff
Phyllis it was so good to read your testimony, and the pics complement it perfectly1
Love Julie
Silk N Style
Thank your for this blog! Aren't you spot on! God sometimes waits patiently on us to come around and realize we just need Him and everything else will fall into place. The minute we stop trying to fill ourselves with other things is the minute God will abundalty bless us...a song comes to mind "All I need is you Lord, is You Lord...you hold the universe...you hold everyone on earth" What can't he give us? He holds everything in His hands. All we have to do is ask according to His will and wait for His time...not ours.
Thanks again, and thank you for including SugarCreations as part of this awesome blog!
In Christ,
Ana
Phyllis, such beautiful words. I thought you were speaking of me, for a moment on your post. LOL I, too, only found my filling in Jesus. Oh, how I love my Jesus. But more important how He loves me!!! It's all I need to know. Thanks for this post and may everyone that comes by here know how awesome the love of God is for each one of His creations. Tereza
Beautiful blog post! Thank you so much! ~Counting it all joy, Angela
Phyllis, another beautiful and thought provoking post! I think we can all relate to searching in the wrong way and using the wrong things to fill our God hole. Only God can fill it and when he does, it makes all the difference.
Thank you for sharing yourself through these beautiful posts!
Beautiful items from CAST members!