While my son and his wife were out of town this weekend, my daughter-in-law’s sister kept our granddaughter. I volunteered to take her for the last few hours of the time they were gone so her aunt could catch up on any sleep she’d lost over the weekend! This was no great sacrifice for me because I’m a little crazy about this bundle of joy.
When we arrived at the house, her aunt came to the door carrying the baby and that sweet little girl’s face broke into a huge smile when she saw my husband and me coming through the door. She bounced in her aunt’s arms and reached for me – so excited to see us. That brought such delight and joy to my heart. Knowing that she recognizes us and is happy to be with us is an amazing feeling. When she shows such enthusiasm to be with me, it makes me want to bless her with anything her tiny heart wants.
Of course, as many little natural occurrences in my life do, this one made me think of how God relates to all of us. I know that He loves us unconditionally, but can’t you just picture the delight and joy that we bring to Him when we are pursuing Him with abandon – when He can see our excitement at spending time with Him? I wonder if that makes His heart just as eager to bless us as my heart is to treat that little baby to what will please her.
There are some clues about this in His Word.
2 Chronicles 16:9a says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
The end of this verse echoes that. Deuteronomy 30:9 “For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers.”
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
These are just a few of the many examples that show us that God really wants a relationship with us and has so much to give us – more than we could ever imagine.
This is not an emotion or attitude that we can fake. It is born of a real relationship, just like my granddaughter has developed with me in the last year. How did that happen? She is not yet capable of a conversation. She can’t read my blog or understand my spoken words. It happened because she was a helpless newborn who just received all that her parents and extended family provided for her. She’s been fed and bathed and dressed and kissed and loved and encouraged and celebrated from the day she came into our lives. She has learned to rely on us for all that she needs. She is learning how to communicate her needs to us by reaching out for the things that she wants. We’ve played silly little baby games with her and she knows what fun is. You should hear that musical little giggle! She has lived with all of us – day by day – and she knows us, trusts us, needs us.
In our relationship with Jesus, we are as helpless as newborns sometimes. We need to receive all that He provides for us. We learn to trust Him for what we need. We learn to communicate our needs in prayer, although our first attempts at those conversations may be clumsy and awkward. As that relationship develops, we learn to enjoy spending time with Him. When we learn to really hear His voice and walk with Him, it even becomes fun! If you’ve never had that kind of connection with God, it is something that can be cultivated. It’s not instant, but if you pursue it, it is possible. I challenge myself, along with you, to put this relationship in the place of the highest priority, so that we will sincerely take delight in God and enjoy the delight that He will take in us.
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