Have you ever noticed that when you love someone, you also love to surprise, delight and “bless” them? By bless, I mean to bring joy or make happy, to bestow gladness of heart. It’s fun for them and that makes it fun for you.
So when God says all throughout the Bible that He loves us and delights in us, it means that HE gets pleasure out of making us happy, bringing us joy, bestowing gladness upon our hearts. He wins, we win. I love the way God does math.
Yesterday I was reflecting on the word “delight” which is what He gave me at the beach. And within one hour I received three random God stories to give evidence of His delight. Three different women, one loving God.
One woman was having a hard day and just shot up an arrow prayer. “I just asked Jesus for a kiss,” said my friend. She got this a few minutes later.
And her response? “Oh how I love Him!” Blessing bring devotion. Delight makes happy the heart, especially His delight poured into our hearts.
My other friend had been stressing about a party she was giving. She was relating to the Lord her concern about the cost of the gifts, favors, and the restaurant. And what did she get in her email inbox ten minutes later? A coupon that would drop her meal cost by 50%. Wow. She was thrilled at His provision for a place she had reserved weeks ago. “He’s so intimately acquainted, so sweet!” was her delighted response.
My third story is about a friend who “went looking for God” and thought she came home empty-handed with just a shell and few photos. “I was a little disappointed” she told me on the phone when I asked about her date weekend with Lord. But then the pieces started coming together. Here it is in her words:
“I have been thinking about this shell and talking to HIM about its meaning and I’m just undone. I had asked, “How do you see me”?
He said, “Most people see a closed heart with barnacle scars. But I see a huge heart and beautiful colors just waiting to be revealed.”
I asked HIM to show me He loved me and He gave me this heart- this broken heart. HE reassured me that HE knows my heart is broken. HE knows I feel rejected, unworthy, alone and forgotten. He revealed His beauty to me, kissed my cheek and reminded me of all the wonderful work HE is doing inside my clamped shut, sand-filled, barnacled scarred heart.
He is so good and I am undone.”
Delight is a two way street. There is both a giver and receiver. And both hearts are made glad by the connection. Delight yourself in Him for He greatly delights in you. Selah.