Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Ps. 51:12)
Ryan and I love to set goals, and right around this time of year, we begin having fresh conversations about our desires and prayers for the future. As we reminisce on another year of marriage, celebrate our anniversary, and prepare to close out a calendar year, we reflect on the good and the difficult of the year gone by, and we pray and dream for the year to come.
While we have our own heart-dreams, our biggest prayer is always that God will show us the dreams he has for us and prune and shape our lives so we can be wherever he desires. It’s not easy (or fun) to ask for God’s pruning hand, but we’ve learned it’s necessary, even if it’s painful.
When David wrote Psalm 51, he was freshly aware of flagrant sin in his life, and he didn’t want to stay enslaved to it. He prayed for forgiveness, but he also prayed with hope for his future. He asked God to create a new heart and renew a steadfast spirit where sin had taken hold (v. 10). He asked for restoration and a willing spirit so he could move forward in forgiveness and wholeness (v. 12).
These are the goals that please the Lord. Confessing wrongdoing is necessary, but finding a confident hope for a future filled with restoration and healing shows growth and change.
Walk toward a future filled with God’s restoration and renewal!
Bekah Shaffer is an alumna of Indiana Wesleyan University and enjoys endless coffee, scrapbooking, and adventuring with her husband, Ryan.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
