DEVOTION- Delight over Dread
Is this ropes course fun or torture?
My daughter stands on the small landing at the top of the climbing pole. She is harnessed in, but clutches the metal handle on the pole, eyes glued on the trapeze bar dangling in the air a few feet away. The idea is simple: jump from the platform and try to catch the bar. If she misses, the rope will catch her and slowly lower her to the ground. But the actual act of jumping is not as simple as the idea.
After several minutes of trying to gather the courage to jump while her feet shuffled closer to the edge before sliding back to safety again, we offered her another way out. She could climb back down and be done. She didn’t have to jump. She thought about it, but she looked at the trapeze and a little grin spread across her face.
She wanted to jump. She knew it was going to be fun. She didn’t want to miss out on the adventure, but she couldn’t make herself take the leap. Battling between fear and the desire to complete what she started, my daughter stayed on the platform for almost thirty minutes.
I stood at the bottom with arms outstretched, calling out encouragement, assuring her that she could trust the rope. She was stuck, and she had to make a decision. Finally, she released the handle with trembling fingers, took one step off the platform, and was in my arms. I wrapped her in the biggest hug and told her how proud I was of her. It wasn’t easy, but she did it! As much as she dreaded the act, she took delight in finally doing it. It was fun!
Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.
Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.
Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.
How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness preserve my life.
Psalm 119:33-40 (NIV)
Obeying God seems like a bunch of chores that we have to complete, a checklist of tasks required of us as an entrance fee to being His child. But Psalm 119 describes obeying God’s laws very differently. In this chapter, the author talks about the gift God’s laws are to our lives and the many benefits of obedience. He even goes as far as saying that God’s commands are where he finds delight.
We don’t often read the Bible’s commands with delight. More than likely we read them with a subtle sense of dread because we know that our lives don’t meet the standard of God’s laws. The shame we feel at not measuring up doesn’t come from God, but from the Enemy. God offers us a free choice: to obey and find delight or to climb back down without taking the leap and miss out on the adventure He has for us.
God’s laws are not simply commands, they are an invitation. They are God stretching His hand out to us and beckoning us to draw near to Him, to understand His heart and take part in His plans. In order to find the fulness of delight in God, we must walk in the same path that He walks. In order to join Him in His plans, we have to follow in His ways. And while that obedience can be as scary as leaping from a platform in the air, something deep within us knows this is how we are meant to live.
What about obedience is so delightful? God created us with a deep longing to be like Him because we are His. When we obey Him, we draw closer to who we are made to be, and our souls delight in experiencing the fulness of God’s presence. With every decision we stand on a platform with two choices before us: to climb back down or to take the uncertain step forward into what feels difficult but results in a delightful adventure. Let’s take the leap together!
Father, thank you for inviting me to follow in your ways and for showing me your laws. When I begin to dread the sacrifices that come with your commands, fix my eyes on the delight of obedience. I want to be the person you created me to be, and find my complete fulfillment in taking part in the adventure you have planned for me.
Do I delight in obeying God, or dread it?
FREE Summer Reading for Your Kids!
Okay moms, summer is HERE and your maybe your kids (like mine) are already bored…
Don’t worry, I have the perfect thing for you!
Summer of Stories is a FREE video series of 30 Christian children’s authors reading their books to your kids all summer long AND there are giveaways for each day’s featured story!
The details: Sign up with your email and get a video of a Christian author reading their book to your kids in your inbox every weekday from June 9-July 27. Comment on each day’s post to enter a giveaway to win a copy of that book. Rewatch as many times as you want until Aug. 1 when all the videos disappear.
This group of books is so phenomenal and I’m shocked that they all agreed to jump on board for this series.
Please share this with all your mom friends, because it is going to be SO MUCH FUN!
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See you next week. God Bless!