The last few weeks God has had this message on my heart but
it’s been simmering in my spirit until now.
I have been praying on it and even discussing it with a few people. The more I dig into this concept, the more I
marvel at how great God is and how He created us to function!
I started with simply asking God to open my understanding to
what it meant to “Delight in Him” as Psalms 37:4 says. When I hear this verse, most pastors or
people tend to focus on the second half which talks about the desires of our
hearts, but God asked me “Do you really know what it means to delight?”
So my reply was, “No, Father-God, I don’t.” As I sat still for a moment, God brought an
image to mind of a child playing at his father’s feet in a living room. The father was reading a paper and the boy
was playing happily between his feet on the floor. The child gets up and starts playing with the
father’s leg and then climbs up and plays with the father’s buttons. He then sticks his face in between the
newspaper and the father’s face. “Daddy?!”
he says. The father lays down the paper
expecting a request for a toy or candy.
Then the son lays his head on his father’s chest and says “I love you!” The father then embraces his son for a solid
moment. His hand slides from the child’s
back to under his arm where he proceeds to tickle his ribs! The laughter penetrates the whole house!
I hope we have all experienced moments like these, either as
a child or a parent! Why? Because at that moment we know the true
meaning of delighting! He has told us that He wants us to be full of
joy, have pleasure, or be thrilled in His presence! The sheer rapture of being in His arms, or
knowing that you have gotten His attention and His focus is to love and be
loved by you, intimately is overwhelmingly amazing!
As the week went on, I believe God was allowing me to digest
that huge concept before he took me deeper.
I practiced it too, through praise and worship and simply being in His
presence. Then, last week God showed me
that there are different uses of the word delight for different circumstances! WOW, it gets better!
In Psalms 37:11, David goes on to say “But the meek shall
inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” The simple, humble people will delight in peace! I looked up the Hebrew translation and found
that it was indeed different from the original verse in 37:4! This “delight” meant soft, delicate, and
pliable and it refers to humility! So we
can also see that delighting in the Lord requires humility as well because we
know that in Isaiah, Jesus is the Prince of Peace! Being moldable, and delicate before God
requires trust but He is ever so gentle with us as He interacts with us in
love!
At that point I wanted to know how many meanings there were
to the word “delight” and found one more significant meaning in most of Psalms
and Proverbs! Psalms 1:1-3 sums it up
best where it says, “1 Blessed is the man who walks not in
the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the
seat of the scornful;2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” [Emphasis added]
I started to wonder, “How could ANYONE delight in laws,
rules, precepts, statutes, and every other term used in Psalms and Proverbs
that says to delight in them?! Maybe a
lawyer could, but not an average person!”
The definition was the key; To amuse oneself, tickle oneself, please
oneself, or for self enjoyment! God
brought me back to the boy sitting at his father’s feet. He was happy being in his father’s presence
just amusing himself with the toys that were given to him by his father! God’s laws are not slavery but gifts. His principles are there to be used as tools
to feel joy and fulfillment! We were
given vocation and tasks so that we would be amused and full of pleasure in
doing our Father’s business! Psalms 40:8
says “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my
heart.” His law is His word! His will is my task or pleasure!
Delighting in Him is such an intimate act of love and an
powerful gift that God has given us!
However, there is a flip side to this which has also been covered by the
Bible!
Delighting in God and in His presence takes no effort at
all. There is nothing we can do but come
to God simply and humbly, allowing Him to bring us into His arms! Yet, there are those of us who strive to do
so of our own accord. This striving is
what begins to separate us from God.
God started showing me the meaning of striving in Proverbs
13:10. “By pride comes nothing but
strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom.” When we begin to do things our way, we start spinning
our wheels. We work and work and toil
and fight. God showed me in Philippians
1:15-17, that there are people trying to “out work” God and are seeking the
desires of their heart ahead of God’s presence!
Philippians says “15Some indeed preach Christ even from envy
and strife,
and some also from goodwill: 16The former preach
Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my
chains; 17but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed
for the defense of the gospel.” [Emphasis added]
Are we seeking His miracles, His signs and wonders, His
financial blessings, the notoriety that comes with being a “spiritual leader”? This is striving because God will not honor
our pride and so we have to work that much more to make things happen! I have been stuck in the mud trying to spin
wildly out of the predicament I was in.
I went to God but only for Him to approve my plan and make them
happen! I ended up exhausted with
nothing to show for all the work! I had
wasted time, resources, and even hurt some of my relationships trying to gain
what I would have seen as harmful, if I had simply done what Matthew 6:33 says
and “Seek first His kingdom and righteousness.”
The definition to the word strife in Philippians 1 is to wrestle,
debate, or fight. We cannot enter God’s
presence and in turn His favor, our way.
There is only ONE way to the father and that is through Jesus! 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “if My people who are
called by My name will humble themselves, and pray
and seek
My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
We can’t go to God without being pliable and willing to
submit to Him, seeking a right-standing relationship with Him and not His
benefits, and repenting for trying to do things our way!
At this point, I challenge you to make the choice I
made. I choose to not STRIVE to get the things that God wants
to give me freely as I focus on and take joy in the relationship I have with
Him! I choose to DELIGHT in every moment
spent in His presence, hanging on every word that He whispers in my ear and
loving Him even more for the little things He does to make my day!
I challenge you to ask God to show you any area in which you
are striving! Maybe it’s for a promotion
at work or to find that perfect mate.
Maybe it’s for building a church or even building a family! If it’s not a step ordered by God, it’s
striving in our own ability and Galatians 5:20 says that it is a work of the
flesh. Follow the example given in 2
Chronicles 7:14, humbly go before God, and pray. Stop the strife in your life so that He can
bring you in to the delight of His presence.
God bless you as you continue to seek and serve Him!
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