I used to hear things like “God can change the desires of your heart,” but I severely doubted it. After all, I had (and often still have) very strong desires. However, over the past few years, God has changed my mind about His ability to change the desires of my heart.
My Very Brief Side Gig
A few years ago, I became the Content Manager for a Christian ministry. I’d served as a regular contributor for the blog for a while, and I continued contributing to the blog while I worked as the Content Manager. But the Content Manager role was a paid part-time position—essentially a side gig. (Yes, I did the classic Gen Z side gig thing.) Though it wasn’t particularly exhausting or demanding, it drained me because I simultaneously held a full-time job.
For several weeks, I prayed for bigger and better things: “Dear God, help me switch roles from the Content Manager to the Editor so I can do what I love.” I liked editing better than content managing, so I thought the side gig thing would feel less draining if I could edit content instead of manage content. But the Lord didn’t grant this request. Instead, He changed my desire.
Five months after I started the Content Manager role and about a month after I started praying for a transition to the Editor role, I decided I didn’t really want either role. I wrote down this answer to my prayers: “Through various circumstances and experiences as the Content Manager, You’ve helped me see I no longer want any role in the ministry, except the blog contributor role I’ve had for years. Anything beyond that is way too much for me. You changed the desire of my heart.”
So can God change the desires of our hearts? Can He move in circumstances and experiences to align them with His will for our lives? I believe He can.
Something Better
The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hands of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. (Proverbs 21:1-2 NASB1995)
The assumption we often make about the things we hope and pray for is this: “Well, this seems like the best thing, so it must be the best thing.” But our hearts—and the desires of our hearts—are flawed. Even when we’re confident that we need _____ [fill in the blank with a specific, strong desire], we don’t ultimately know what’s best for ourselves.
My experience is proof that God doesn’t just turn the hearts of kings the ways He wishes; He turns the hearts of ordinary people too. At the time I wrote down that answer to prayer about my side gig—and quit said side gig—I had no idea that God was preparing a full-time position for me to edit and write at an evangelism-and-discipleship-focused Christian ministry. However, about 18 months later, I stepped into that position.
Friends, there’s nothing wrong with having a desire for something and praying God will fulfill it. But if He says “no,” it’s because He has something better for you. He knows what’s in your heart, and He can move in unexpected ways to align your heart’s desire with His will for your life.
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