Delight in the Lord

Delight yourself in the LORD… Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

God desires to have a relationship with me that is THE BEST, UNIQUE to ME and HIM, BEYOND VERBAL DESCRIPTION, and “THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME”, as my friend, Angie, said today. I have finally, finally ‘got it’ – when all I have is Jesus – Jesus is all that I need. I have always been a person who likes control and likes to know the plan for the day, the next week, the year, and my life. For over 40 years, I worked to achieve a good plan that would put me where I wanted to be when I reached that oh so important ‘retirement’. Has my way been working for me? Did it achieve the ‘happiness’ I wanted? Did the word ‘delight’ describe my days? No. But God’s way is working for me!

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” Wimbledon buy Joshua 5:13-14 (NIV)

I am no one special to hear God speak. God speaks to all His children. The question is whether we all listen. Do I give God my undivided attention? I remember my mother having to step in front of the TV so that I would actually hear what she was saying to me! Do I shut my mouth and the busy-ness of my mind so that God can fill me with HIS voice? Do I spend time in studying His Word, the Bible, so that when I hear God’s voice inside me that I recognize His voice by His characteristics? What word does God have for me? He has them!

When I am troubled, wrestling with a question, am I willing to go to that quiet place, shut the door, and go to my knees, even lay with my face to the ground in reverence? I am not saying that God demands this. I am saying that Joshua responded with an act of reverence that was a manifestation of what he felt in his heart about his Lord loving him so much that He would COME and speak directly to him.

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”…Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, …” Matthew 26:36, 38-39 (NIV)

Jesus shows me how to pray. Jesus shows me how to call out to my Father, tell Him how I feel, and receive God’s message for me. Jesus even shows me how to keep going when the Father’s will isn’t the same as mine and yet it IS the best, the most perfect answer. The Father takes away the weight and gives me what I need to move in His direction.

Take time today and read Psalm 63. Read it in an attitude of reverence and humble thanksgiving. God is listening. THEN – be quiet and listen to what God has to say.