Just Keep on Delighting and Practicing
On and off, for years now, I’ve taken Spanish lessons. It’s one of the desires of my heart….hablar en español a mis amigos….in their language. Translation: To speak their language to my Spanish friends. My husband and I took Spanish lessons at the local community college before we would take our missions trips to Mexico or Belize. We were able to speak the basic language, but upon returning home, we didn’t use it, so we’d lose it.
Spanish class was offered here in my community. I attended it faithfully. It’s on a sabbatical right now through the winter months. But, I’ve carried on using Duolingo (a great app that a beginner can start with the basics and continue to move forward with daily practice). I’ve been faithful to the app, practicing daily. In fact, the app tells me I’m on a 152-day streak. Whoohoo! That simply means I’ve practiced translating, speaking, and writing in Spanish. I can’t say I’m ready to carry on conversation with my Spanish friends yet, but if I keep practicing with determination – I’ll get there.
At my Life Group, this week, I spoke about the scripture that says: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) Here’s how I interpret that scripture. If we’re DELIGHTING in God — loving, trusting, enjoying our relationship with Him, committing our ways to Him, and relying on Him — then the desires that come to us are actually His DESIRES for us. I don’t know what God has in mind for my desire to speak Spanish, but my “expector” is expecting an opportunity to fluently share Jesus with “mis amigos”! I’m going to keep practicing!
I was “delighted” when my young children pleased me. I couldn’t help but want to bless them with something special. Now, imagine how God must feel when we delight in Him. That is great news to me. I don’t have to make it happen or force that desire into reality. It takes all the pressure off. I am called to trust Him to act. If those desires ever become reality, He and I will share the desire together.
Back to practicing……I started taking piano lessons when I was 8 years old. I practiced and practiced, and something remarkable happened. Not only was I able, by instinct, to play what I was seeing, and before long, I even had music memorized and I was able to play by memory. All those lessons and all that practice served me well over the years as I played the piano and organ for our church and for our quartette that itinerated around the U.S. and Canada.
Learning to play the piano, learning to speak Spanish or any other acquired ability takes time, determination, practice, and consistency. And that’s the way it is with anything that we want to accomplish in life – learning to cook or dance or sing or even being a better friend. First, we get a plan of action. Then we keep on practicing. All of a sudden, by instinct, we are living out what we put into practice. We instinctively become the one that can play the piano or fluently speaks a foreign language or cooks a great meal or raises their hand when someone asks for help,
Here is my word for us today. May we be faithful. May we trust God and delight in Him. If we are doing that, the Lord will give us the desires of our heart and His heart. Go ahead — start delighting in Him today, and just expect His desires to be YOUR desires. Just keep on delighting and practicing!