Goals, desires, needs. Sometimes we lump them all together. When God doesn't provide the way we think God should, we get our nose out of joint, some of us even wag our finger in God's face and whine about unkept promises.
God has promised to supply our needs as God defines them, not as we define them (because, after all, when we really break it down, aren't some of our "needs" actually just something we "want"?) There are many ways we can work toward meeting our needs and God is part of that effort.
Our desires are really our wants, our passions, our drive. Things we'd like to see or feelings we'd like to satisfy but desires often require the cooperation of someone else (people or God) to fulfill the desire.
My brother Jim, who spends time training trainers, helped me get clarity about how different desires are from goals. A legitimate goal is something which I can attain on my own, in my own strength, by my own talents and abilities, without cooperation from anyone else.
So, as a parent, for example, if I say my goal is that my son is happy, that's impossible to accomplish. However, if I say my desire is for my son to be happy, that keeps it in perspective and helps me remember that I'm not the only person involved in helping see that desire fulfilled.
If I hold things, people and outcomes loosely and remember what I can and cannot control, this makes for a much less frustrated and more fulfilling life for all concerned!
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