Life isn’t always a bed of roses. Things come at us from all sides – stresses and strains, losses and disappointments that we would never have chosen for ourselves. Bitterness can so easily take root.
Fanny Crosby, the blind 19th century hymn writer, was stripped of sight from infancy because of a medical error. She could easily have lived a bitter life, angry at the unfairness of it all. But instead, she turned her yearning toward God.
Out of her intimacy with Christ flowed over 8,000 hymns – songs of joy, trust, and delight in the Lord that still lift hearts today. She once said that she wouldn’t trade her blindness for anything, because through it she saw more clearly the beauty of Jesus.
That’s the heartbeat of Psalm 37. Despite the severe trials and struggles that David endured, both before and after becoming King of Israel, he writes:
Psalm 37:4 I ask only one thing from the LORD. This is what I want most: Let me live in the LORD’s house all my life, enjoying the LORD’s beauty and spending time in his palace.
This isn’t about seeing God as some vending machine. It’s about intimacy. When your heart delights in God – when you yearn for Him above all else – your desires are transformed. His joy becomes your joy. His will becomes your will. And in the middle of your struggles, that changes everything.
It finds its deepest fulfillment in Christ because He bore the greatest injustice of all time on the cross. And yet, through His resurrection, He brings us the deepest joy – a new life in Him.
Don’t let bitterness at the world’s unfairness take root. Choose today to delight yourself in Christ. Yearn for His presence, enjoy His intimacy, and let Him reshape your desires into something lasting, beautiful, and eternal.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
