HOUSE OF ROBERTS BLOG

A few years ago, the Lord was teaching me a little more about how to look and listen to His voice that was guiding my life. He started bringing my attention to “my desires.” He said to me, “I work within the desires of your heart to guide you in my will.” I knew this was a verse so I looked it up. Philippians 2:13 “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” I responded to Him and asked, “How can I trust that my desires are from you and not just me?” He said, “Gabby if you are truly putting Me first in your life, seeking me with all your heart, and submitting to my ways, YOU CAN TRUST the desires in your heart.” It’s the process and strategy of God to direct the desires in your heart, and I love that this verse says not only does He give you the desires but also the POWER to do it!

I felt so empowered by the Spirit of God to trust His spirit at work in me, leading me through my desires. That it wasn’t a shameful or scary thing to “Follow the desires in my heart” but it was actually a key way of hearing and doing within the Kingdom of God. All of a sudden my eyes were so aware of the things that I felt a deep and rich passion for. Whether it was for someone I needed to have coffee with, a group I was supposed to start, or a project I was supposed to create. I was really aware of where I felt desire and power at in my life.

I think it can be easy to fill our lives with doing things that God has not asked us to do. Things that He has not given us a desire and power for. We can tend to do it out of obligation, fear of man, and routine. There is no life in this way. Isn’t it amazing to know that where God calls us, even if it’s hard, even if it’s scary, even if we are unqualified, He gives us the desire and power to do it? It’s become a filter for me in my life. A question that I ask myself before I take on anything new is, “Do I have a desire and do I feel a power to do this?” It’s not a selfish or weak-minded way of making decisions its actually a biblical and an intentional way to see if God is in it, asking you to do it.

I found this process to be true in the “fun” yes’s and even the “not so” fun yes’s! For example, when God was leading me into interior design I couldn’t stop thinking about design. Every space I went into I was designing it. I would get ideas at every turn and I was constantly dreaming in my heart of all the places and spaces I wanted to create. I had a deep clear DESIRE to pursue it and a POWER to run after it even though I had technically no formal training in it. The same was true when God was asking me to mentor a girl who was in a really broken place in life. I couldn’t stop thinking about her and praying for her. It was my joy to get time with her even though I knew our time would be heavy and hard. I had a deep desire to see her free and walking in God’s fullness and I had power and a vision to help her get to this place!

Where God calls you He gives you a desire and power to do it! This is why I never fear whatever God has in store for me, because I know wherever He calls me He will give me a desire and power to do it!

What are you desiring? What has been stirring in your heart for a while? Who is someone you can’t get off your mind? What’s an idea that amps you up just thinking about it? Remember, if God is truly at the center of your life then you can trust your desires because He is leading them! My prayer is that you take a step out this week! That you would run after some of what God has been putting in your heart, both the big and the small.