Our Story-Delighted

Befriended, befriended by the King above all Kings
Surrendered, surrendered to a friend above all friends
Invited, invited deep into this mystery
Delighted, delighted by the wonders I have seen

My brother just threw a surprise party for my sister-in-law. The poor guy was so petrified something was going to go wrong that I think we received about ten e-vites. (I'm still amazed he knew how to do an e-vite.) But it was all for that moment when she would turn the corner, a group of her closest friends would yell surprise and that look would be captured on her face. He wanted to see that look. That look of sheer delight.

I believe God does that as well. I believe there are things he does for no other reason than to delight us. In the twenty first chapter of John Jesus' disciples are out fishing. Jesus as already risen from the dead, He's visited them on two other occasions, but this particular morning he shows up on the seashore. They fished all night and caught nothing. He hollers out to them, "Caught anything."
"Nope."
"Why don't you try throwing your net on the other side of the boat."
They give it a whirl. And the catch is ginormous! Too much to even get all those flapping creatures in the boat.
And immediately John says, "It's the Lord."
And Jesus gets to enjoy the delight on there face.

I might think it was about the food if when they make it to shore Jesus didn't already have dinner on the grill. But He does. So, it can't be about the food. So, couldn't it be that He just wanted to enjoy delighting His children? I think it could.

About a year ago I was given the opportunity to audition for a commercial. A friend has a modeling and talent agency and needed some models in my "age bracket". We know what that means don't we...I laughed and said, "Sure, you call me when you are in dire straights." Well, she did. And I went. Here I was with my midget self, "dressed the part", of a housewife who is supposed to be painting a room. I've got on a tennis shoes, jeans and a sweatshirt. And every other girl sitting around me is leggy and lean and looks like a supermodel. If there had been a hole to crawl into the only thing sticking out of it would have been my booty...

So, I audition and have to admit caught an element of delight in the eyes of the lady that shot it, but still wasn't thinking Academy Award. Got in the car and had a good old laugh with my mom on the way home. Weeks past and I had laid my starry eyed delusions of fame down when I got a call. They wanted me. Quit laughing! They did. But they wanted me for a date I couldn't do it. It was a trip I couldn't reschedule and one I had told them about on the day of my audition. I just said sorry. A week later, they had changed the shoot date and hired me. I was driving home, just giddy. Laughing and "processing" and the Lord broke through my head and said, "You may forget things, but I never forget."

When I was a little girl I had done musical theater all throughout school. Loved it. Thought I'd make a great lead on a soap opera, but didn't quite know how to get to Hollywood. Gave it all up for reality and ended up creating my own form of drama on the written page. I had forgotten how much I had loved it. He hadn't.

I've asked myself why there are moments in my life that I miss Him when He comes to delight. I could have enjoyed that moment but never given Him the opportunity to break through and see that it was Him. That He had moved the world to delight me. Okay, maybe just a shoot date, but to me it may as well have been the world.

I think there are a few reasons moments like that are missed. One is despair. When Job was in his deepest sorrow He said, "I look for him in the east but he isn't there. And to the west but I can't perceive him." Sometimes our crisis moments turn our eyes so inward that we're not looking for where He might be moving, we're only looking for where it doesn't seem He is. And we get so focused on the "us" of that moment we miss the Him.

But I bet if you think back there were moments when you could see Him. When He felt exceptionally near. In the car maybe, when you'd turn on the praise and worship music. In the first moments of morning before it was over run by children and demands. In the evening out on the back porch, when the world had finally shut down to breathe. Maybe if you go back there, you will have your spirit renewed and your eyes be able to focus on something other than the crisis that has surrounded. I think the disciples went back to fishing because that's where the met Jesus the first time. And they wanted to be as close to that as they possibly could.

For others I think sin removes our ability to see. We're told in Corinthians that "repentance removes the veil." Sin in our lives keeps us blind. We're focused on fulfilling our wants, our whims, our wishes. We're focused on satisfying that endless thirst in the depths of our soul and leaving no room for the Creator of it. And so our heart can't see. But when we repent, we turn, we see.

I challenge you today to take God to the secret places. To the places of hidden imaginations. I know we think we hide them from Him. But He sees even what we try to hide. And in ridding ourselves of secret worlds, God will deliver hidden treasures of delight.

Regret can be a delight killer too. See, the disciple John is the one who recognized Jesus. And he turns and tells Peter. Peter had just recently denied Jesus three times and was devastated over the capability of his own betrayal. And right after Jesus reveals himself there on the seashore he looks at Peter and deals with his regret.

If Peter would have stayed in that pit of regret than his story would have been void of the chapter where he was the father of the Christian church. Can you imagine having that cut from your story? But he was. Why? Because once and for all he let go of the regret. Regret will give us nothing but sorrow. And when God forgives, He forgives completely. Our choice to hold on to regret will simply remove His ability to use us in the future, and important chapters of our story will be divinely altered. What a tragedy, to live with something God is so willing to remove.

But what creates an avenue for delight? Relationship. Bringing God into those intimate places of our life. Befriending Him. Surrendering to Him. Inviting Him. We each have a story. A powerful epic. For some of us we have battles to fight. For others you have beauties to rescue. And for others we have laughter to deliver. But we have a story. And in the middle of all of the pages God simply wants to delight us. Hard to believe in a crazy world with wars and famine and poverty that He really would care if His children are surprised, but He does. That's why He tugs on the hearts of some individuals to bring orphanage relief, so that His children with no earthly father can receive the delight of their heavenly father when they hold a new ball or play with a new doll.

He cares about their delight and He cares about ours. May we let Him write our story. And may we recognize and then enjoy the moments that He stops the pages to delight us...