Chosen Grace

Hi everyone! It’s been a long time since I’ve written. Graduate school is taking up most of my time, but believe me when I say that God has been working! And because He had- I’m here to encourage you all today. Be blessed reading this post! -Malaysia 🙂

The heart is one of the most essential- if not THE essential organ in our bodies. It controls our blood flow, beats by itself (a God work!), and does a host of other things.

The one thing that it does that many don’t think about is that our heart holds our most intimate and precious desires. And I’m not talking about desiring something sweet after dinner. Nope, I’m talking about those things that we want so bad. They come from our heart.

Lately, in my walk with God, He’s bought a lot of my desires to my attention. And when I tell you- it’s been a very interesting experience. I mean, God has been giving me all the tea! God has revealed to me some things about my own desires that I want to share with you all today.

You see, God showed me that while it’s perfectly normal to have desires, but sometimes our own desires can taint how we think and operate to fulfil them. What I mean is this: The desires of our hearts are good, but we can’t fulfil them on our own.

I’m gonna be real with you all- when God first told me that, I was confused. All of my life, I had heard people say to “follow your heart”. So for God to be revealing something contrary, I couldn’t quite understand it.

well, God in His faithfulness didn’t leave me hanging. He lead me to Jeremiah, who had some powerful words to speak:

“The heart is decietful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

Jeremiah 17:9, NIV

In the verse above, God was speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah. He was talking to the now-exiled children of Isreal. Because they had sinned by following the false gods of the nations around them, they now had become exiles to the Babylonians.

Like the ancient Israelites, we too have deceitful hearts. Because of the Fall (Genesis 3), mankind was subjected to sin. It entered our hearts and now our wills are tainted because of it.

Even when we try our best, we still fail. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans, even when I want to carry our good, I always end up choosing the thing I hate (Romans 7:15-17). It is inevitable that our own way will lead us astray.

To be honest with you all- this is me. There have been times where I would let my own desires become the center of my world. And even when I would pray about it- I still ended up falling into some sins that I knew were not gonna glorify God. My desires were good, but my execution was all wrong. For a long time, this bothered me. But, once again, God is faithful. Let me show you how:

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jeremiah 17:10, NIV

This verse immediately follows the one where God lets us know that the human heart is bad by nature. But in this verse, God gives us hope.

You see, God knows us. He knew us while we were still in our mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5). He knows our coming and our going (Psalm 139).

And because God knows us- He understands in totality that we are gonna mess things up. God is not sitting on His throne marking tally marks of how many times we allowed our flesh to lead us. No, instead He has already given us the grace to repent and try again.

More importantly, He understands the desires of our hearts and recognizes that we do want and desire things. God is wise and acknowledge our human wants and needs. With that being said, God wants to help us in carrying out our desires. And the best way He does this is by asking us to surrender.

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

The verse above, written by David, is an example of the ultimate thing God wants from us concerning our desires of the heart: surrenderance.

When we turn our hearts desires towards God- we are giving Him permission to work on that thing for us. By surrendering your desires to God, He’ll work it out for you. More importantly- He works on you in the meantime.

Now, if I’m being 100% honest- surrendering is my least favorite thing to do. If you’ve been reading my posts for a while- then you know that being in control is my jam.

But as I’ve grown closer to God, He’s asked me to let go of the things I want most. And it’s been a real challenge for me. I’ve had to check my heart more than one time. But I can tell you this: I’m content. I’m at peace knowing that my desires and wants are in the hands of The One who knows my soul. There is no better place for them to be than with God.

So, as I draw this post to a close, I want to encourage you all to check your heart. Ask yourself these two questions: Are you holding on to some desires that need to go to God? Are you tired of doing things on your own?

Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions above- there is joy. Jesus came so that we don’t have to walk alone. After all, He is called Emmanual “God with us“. And because He walks with us, He can and will help us do what He’s called us to do. Even if that’s just giving our heart’s desires over to Him.

I encourage you to give your heart over to Him today. From experience, I’m telling you it’s worth it.

God will take care of your heart in ways that will surprise you. He will cover you. He will anoint you. He will give you peace.

So, check your heart today.

With a heart full of peace and love,

Malaysia 🙂