Saturday, April 6, 2013

A Life He Keeps Changing


Dear Ones - has it really be almost two months since I have blogged?  I want you to know that God has been doing a work in my life.  I am so grateful for His faithfulness even when I am not faithful.  That is what humbles me most.  

It is not always pleasant, "the work," that is.  But it is fulfillment of His promise that "He which hath begun a good work in [me] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6)  I love that promise, because when He is constantly unsettling me, it is proof positive I belong to Him.  There is great joy and peace in that.  

Seems like a paradox that one can be unsettled and at peace at the same time, doesn't it? To the world it does.  To this believer whose life He keeps changing, it is just part of the wonderful process of preparing me for eternity.

I hope you don't mind if I borrow thoughts from one of my very first blogs because I have truly been focusing once again on "delighting" in the person of Jesus Christ - not in what He can do for me - but in Him.  When I do that, I continue to be a life He keeps changing.  

I always feel like He has to work harder on me than others - you know, like assign extra angels to my car in the morning.  I hit a fire hydrant on the way to work one morning.  It was only 1,000 ft from my front door, but I was movin' around that curb, and that fire hydrant took off the side of my car.  

The fire hydrant was unmoved and undamaged - thank the Lord.  The first thing my insurance agent asked was, "do we need to call the city?"  Nope, no damage to the fire hydrant. 
 
Now, when Frank sees my scurrying around in the morning, forgetting keys, coming back for my phone and lipstick and forgetting those two rollers in the top of head so I will have a little "poof" (Texas girls always like a little "poof,") he will (sometimes) kindly say,  "Baby, be careful today.  This is one of those days when you will run over a fire hydrant, dogs, and small children."  Frank always prays with me in the morning and asks for the Lord's protection over both of us - but mostly me.  


This is life, right?  When I worry that I am not doing my share, and the Lord has to work harder on me, I am reminded of the verse in Proverbs 8:30 that tells me I am daily the Lord's delight.  I am amazed at that.  Are you? 

I looked up the word "delight," and it gave the normal words I would expect, "joy, happy, show of excitement," and then I read about what it meant in Hebrew. No, I don't read Hebrew, but I can google.  "Luxurious, delicate, feminine, to be of dainty habit, to be pampered, happy about" is what I found. 

The picture that instantly popped into my head was one of a child so excited about something that her little face was frozen in a squeal, shoulders up, and maybe even hands to the mouth in disbelief of something so wonderful. I can't imagine the God of the universe (my Heavenly Daddy) loving me and delighting in me as His child in such a powerful, mind-boggling way.  


I say I have "delighted" in Him when I read my chapter in Proverbs, one in the New Testament, a chapter in a devotional, say my prayer - usually asking for strength and faith, praying over my list of specific prayer requests and thanking Him for saving me.  


I need to be careful that I delight myself in Him and not what He does for me.  Then I can say that whether I have or don't have, I am delighted in His presence.

When I am truly delighting in Him, I am delighting in His Word and its convicting power to pierce and heal the wound all at the same time.  Delighting in His Word makes my life one He keeps changing.

As an aside, parents do your children know that you delight in them?  Do you delight in them? "Even as a father-the son in whom He delights - how blessed is the man who finds wisdom."  Theirs is a life you keep changing, and your life will change as well, when you do.


Thank you, Jesus, that you treat me as a rare, delicate, treasured gift, and I am worthy of it only because of the sacrifice of the rarest, most treasured gift in all of eternity.

Thank you, Lord Jesus that you delight in me (Is 62:4), that you rescued me because you delight in me, and in You I find the reason for approaching each day with joy.

Now, that is enough to make my heart burst with squealing delight.  Glad I'm not one of those snake handlers today.  The cages would be wide-open.

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