When my family went with me on my first ministry trip to Alaska years ago, we had one important family goal - to see some moose! After all, people were telling us that local residents were literally running into them on the highway. So surely we would see at least one if we drove around. Wrong. When no moose came to meet us, we ventured into a moose preserve - a place where lots of them live. We spent two hours looking at trees - but no Bullwinkle. So, we basically gave up. Then the next morning we were coming out of the driveway of the house where we were staying, and suddenly our daughter screamed, "Moose!" There were two of those critters right at the foot of our driveway! And suddenly I was remembering the advice we received the day we arrived - "As long was you're looking for a moose, you won't see one. But as soon as you stop looking, you'll find one."
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising Secret of Finding What You're Looking For."
Our daughter was a teenager when we had that moose sighting. And after that happened, she said, "You know, this is a lot like finding the right guy, isn't it?" I wasn't sure what she meant because I didn't think she wanted to date a guy with big antlers. But she explained it - "When you stop looking, you finally find him."
Now that is an interesting principle, isn't it? Does it check out Biblically? Let's get a little help from our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 37:4-5. "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this." In other words, you pursue the Lord and He will give you what you need and desire.
What is it that you're really pursuing right now? Maybe it's someone for you to love or someone to love you, or a home, a car, a promotion, financial resources, maybe it's success in business, or a position in ministry. Well, notice what verbs aren't used in this blueprint for receiving the desires of your heart - it doesn't say "look for it, pursue it, insist on it, worry about it, or find some way to get it." No, here are the action words - "delight, commit, trust" - all directed to your Lord.
So the spirit of this "desires of your heart" plan seems to be to let go of it. Stop looking for it, chasing it, pining for it, and getting all bummed out because you don't have it yet. You get wrapped up the Lord and the things that matter to Him, and you let Him send it to you in His way - which the Bible says is always "perfect" (2 Samuel 22:31) - and in His time - which the Bible says is always "beautiful" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But doesn't the Bible say, "Seek and you shall find." Yes, in the context of seeking the Lord for it in prayer. That's part of committing and trusting.
It might be that the reason the Lord hasn't given it to you up until now is that if He gives it to you, while you want it this badly, you might very likely make an idol out of it. So learn a lesson from our surprising Alaskan moose. When you stop looking for the great desire of your life, you're most likely to find it - and maybe right on your doorstep!