Excerpt: “Everything My Heart Seeks”

​A Christian Devotional

​He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32

​The apostle Paul writes passionately to the believers in Rome, baring God’s heart with this compelling rhetorical question: If God was willing to surrender His own Son and allow Him to suffer and die to redeem us, will He not also provide those who love Christ everything else we need?

​Jesus was the greatest gift God could have possibly offered. After Christ, everything else we might wish for pales pathetically in contrast. Still, Scripture assures us that those things our hearts most deeply desire are granted along with the superior gift of Jesus Himself.

​So, we may ask: What are “all things?” Quite simply, God has provided to us all the essentials in life we truly need — everything our heart is seeking.

​What do you really want? What is it that your heart seeks?  I know. I long for the same things.

    * You want your life to be better.
    * You want to know you are unconditionally loved.
    * You want to know you have a purpose.
    * You want to know you have a future.

​There may be wounds in your life that still fester, heartache that lingers, guilt that overwhelms, questions it seems no one can answer.

​I cannot provide what you need. But, there is another who longs to provide you with everything you need.

​God’s desire is to assure you of His love, infuse you with the passion to pursue a calling designed personally for you, and to enjoy the perfect fulfillment of eternity with you when this life one day ends.

​What you seek cannot be found in wealth, fame or popularity. These are the vain, superficial ends the world offers that are as sand that slips through our fingers. We dream, strive and climb only to find that the top rung yields little more than empty promises and disillusionment.

​Still, in this world we live in, our base nature may say, “If only I had more money, I might be able to buy my way to happiness.” In your heart, you know that is untrue and ineffectual. That’s not what you really want. For who among us would not give all we have to gain the love of someone who fully accepts and adores us?

​What you desire is someone in your life who looks not only into your eyes, but also into your being, and sees all that you are — uniquely special and valuable — and considers you worthy of love.

​Once you can be assured that you have worth, you want to know that that love cannot be jeopardized or thwarted. You are going to blow it sometimes. No matter how hard you try, you will have bad days, bad moods, and bad attitudes. And, you need to know that someone will still accept and love you anyway. You want intimacy – to be able to reveal your deepest wounds and secrets, dreams and desires and know that there is nothing you can say or do that will threaten the loss of love.

​You either have a dream or want one. Most, and perhaps all, of us know that there are things we want to do or become, but there are times when the fear of failing – or succeeding – keep us from running the race with passion and energy. No matter what you’ve been through or how far you’ve fallen, you know deep down that you have gifts and abilities that are yours alone. You may already know what it is that you feel called to do, but you may feel inadequate, inferior or unworthy. You want someone to believe in you and cheer you on.

​And, you want to know that this is not all there is. The one certainty in life is that life is uncertain. One day you might be flying high, and the next day you discover that your wings have been clipped. This world is full of unfathomable beauty and grace, and it is laced with traps and terror. So, we want to know there is more than what we can possibly glean from our short span of experience here. We want to know that one day we can expect to close our eyes on this flawed existence and open them to wondrous beauty and perfection.

​Perhaps at my best moments, I may have the desire and the will to love you, affirm that I will be there for you, encourage you to pursue excellence, and assure you of better days. But, I will also fail you, for my love and character are imperfect, and I possess no power to escort you into eternity. But, I know the One who loves you with an everlasting love, endows you with special gifts and a purpose that you alone can fulfill, and who longs to personally escort you home.

​He is fearful, but not to be feared, just but ever patient and merciful; powerful, personal and perfect. It is in knowing Him that we find ourselves, for He is our Creator, a tender Father, and an affectionate brother, the Guardian Shepherd of our hearts, the King of all things. As we take time to explore His majesty and gaze in awe at His nature, we cannot help but find Him utterly irresistible.

​He is everything our heart seeks.