Aligning Our Deepest Desires: Blog Post by Dean Marini
I was about 14 years old and on a family vacation in the Outer Banks. One late afternoon a man parked his motorcycle in the campsite beside ours, unrolled a pup tent and camped for the night. His method of travel and display of independence seemed so cool to me. The motorcycle he was riding … well, that would become a life-long obsession.
I had never seen an Indian Motorcycle before, but I fell in love. I remember staring at that bike for almost an hour. From that day on, I desired to own my own vintage Indian. And over the years I’ve made several attempts to buy one. There used to be a small shop near my office that restored them. The owner would stop by occasionally with a fresh restoration trying to entice me into spending the exorbitant price the bikes were (and still are!) going for.
Then, as if manna from Heaven was set before me, a friend of mine that owned a wire & cable company decided to hold a giveaway promotion to boost product sales. The prize? A fully restored 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle! This HAD to be God’s providence…
Well, at least I have the picture of me sitting on the bike at the trade show.
One year later, back at the trade show I stood poised with many others for the drawing of the winning ticket. The friend that owned the company was too nervous to pull the ticket. She asked one of our best friends to draw the winning entry. That had to be a sign that God was going to bless his good and faithful servant, Dean!
God has blessed me alright. More blessings than I can ever deserve. But it wasn’t however, with an Indian motorcycle; or any other Indian bike I’ve entered to win. I suppose it would be easy to convince myself that God failed me. What an amazing story I could have shared if my name had been selected!
The more amazing story though… is that Jesus Christ died for me and for you. He saved us from our sins and provides all of our needs.
We tend to get frustrated with God when we don’t get what we want, when and how we want it. I’ve seen far too many people walk away from the Lord because things didn’t go their way.
Psalm 37:4 states, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When we read that, we can believe that God is promising to give us whatever we desire. Verse 5 holds a key point in the passage, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this…”. Did you catch that? Commit your way to the Lord. Committing our way to God’s way aligns our heart and our desires with His. Our desires become less about trivial and temporary things and more about what God’s bigger plan is for us. We truly do want the things of God rather than the things of man.
I’ve had times in my life when I was certain I knew how God should handle a situation. I prayed about those circumstances in faith. My faith wasn’t just mustard seed sized either; it was bigger than the French’s mustard factory. In each of those times, as in that raffle drawing, God moved differently. My desires would have led to false pride and stumbling blocks. God’s way perfected my obedience, provided my needs, and led to a deeper relationship.
My life is so much richer with Christ in my heart rather than an Indian in the garage. My prayer for all of us? Take the world, but give us Jesus!
Written by Dean Marini
Thank you for sharing your story . It was such a blessing to me . Maybe you or readers could give me advice . Is it possible for wealthy powerful man love a woman that’s on graduated from high school . He builds highways and bridges . Owns his own business.
We believe Love knows no bounds! We pray he is a God-fearing man. God bless you!