GOD'S DELIGHT

2 Samuel 22:1-23:23; Acts 2:1-47; Psalm 122:1-9; Proverbs 16:19-20

“He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies.... The Lord supported me. He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.”

“I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope.”

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

 “God’s Delight” is hardly the way either my wife or I would describe ourselves. Come to think of it, there aren’t very many people we know who would presume to take that title for themselves. Yet that is exactly why Christ chose to die for us. We are God’s delight. No matter our shortcomings or our mistakes, the Lord delights in giving us hope. He stays beside us and believes in us, even when we don’t believe in Him, or ourselves. Scripture says again and again that the Holy Spirit will rescue us, if we will but be with Him. I have to resist the temptation to think that just hanging out means I have been “good for nothing.” Just being with, and abiding in, God, is the greatest act of worship. It allows the Spirit access to our hearts, and gives Him the chance to fill our emptiness.

In the course of the last twenty-four hours, I have again learned that lesson. Spending time with my parents, I haven’t done much but unplug from my normal world of business and busyness and just hang around the folks. We went to Sea World. We enjoyed the shows and walked about a million miles. We watched the Super Bowl and ate way too much junk food. I have not seen them so happy in at least five years. It really was a wonderful day. But they also left no doubt about what the best thing was for them. It wasn’t the shows or the game. It was just being with my wife and me, talking, laughing and sharing each other. The most valuable gift they got, the only gift that really mattered, the one thing they really treasured, was our presence. We didn’t have to do or work at anything in particular. We just had to be available and responsive. We delighted them simply because we cared enough to slow down for a few days to be with them.

This was a real revelation for me in particular. As I’ve said before, adolescence was pretty much a constant struggle. I spent my youth feeling I had to earn my parents’ love through achievement. I thought that was what they wanted. But maybe I was too hard on them, or too insensitive to really grasp their ultimate goal. Perhaps they just wanted me to understand I was not as inept or socially incompetent as I usually felt growing up. It could be they challenged me so I would realize my own potential. Whatever. None of that seems especially important today. Today, our bond has unquestionably changed. No longer is achievement the centerpiece, if it ever was. Relationship is what matters now, to all of us.

So it is with our heavenly Father, too. All of us spend more of our time trying to please Jesus than just being with Him. When our actions fall short of what is pleasing to Him, we tend to get down on ourselves and pull away from Him in shame. But that’s the last thing Christ wants. What He wants – all He really asks - is to spend time with us sharing our thoughts, feelings and hearts, whatever their condition.  We may be ashamed, or full, of ourselves. No matter. Christ just wants us spending time with Him. Once we reconnect, His Spirit in us will take care of the rest, and will heal whatever is in us that is not of Him, if we allow it.

God wants only what is best for us. What is best for us is Christ. In Him, we have forgiveness of our sins and are reconciled to God. We are free to just hang out with the Father.  We should all spend more time doing that and worrying less about what else we are going to accomplish. After all, no accomplishment will win us eternal life, and compared to heaven, no earthly reward or recognition has much significance. God wants to delight in us. We owe Him the opportunity. All it takes is a little time and attention. It really isn’t any work at all. We just have to get used to the idea that we really are more than what we do.