Desire Is Not Enough!

2 Chronicles 6:7-9 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart: Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

When the Lord has a work for a man to do, He may put a desire in his heart to do that work. Nehemiah is a good example of this. But desire is not enough! In our text, King David, a man after God’s own heart, had a desire to build the Lord a house, but sadly it was not the will of God for his life. This godly man had in his heart a desire contrary to God’s will. To compound this, he was initially encouraged by Nathan to pursue this desire, although later changed his mind. (I Chron. 17.1-4)

The point to be made is that because there is a heart desire to do a particular work for the Lord, it does not necessarily mean that is the will of God . Even desire with the preacher’s approval is not conclusive of the Lord’s will for one’s life. If there is a desire in your heart be careful, and proceed with caution. It may be a desire from the Lord, and it may not. Knowing the Lord’s will for one’s life is not always an easy matter to discern. In addition, if your spiritual mentor or hero thinks he knows God’s will for your life, he might and he might not. I am very much aware of Acts 13, but the fact is that the man of God is just that, a man, and he can be wrong. I am simply saying dear child of God, be careful concerning your desires. They may appear to be from God when, in fact, they are not.

Let me close with the advice of one of my church members who thought he was called to the mission field, but later realized he was mistaken. He said, if you don’t know, don’t go, but if you know you had better go.