You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11
If I asked three people how they enjoy God, I would expect blank stares. How do you enjoy someone you don’t know well? How do you get to know someone who is invisible? And, how do you enjoy someone who doesn’t speak to you in an audible voice? These are fair questions and the very reason this short series exists. I fear that few of God’s children know Him well at all much less find Him enjoyable. That used to be me for 4+ decades. I knew God’s resume but not His heart. I knew His history but not His mind on present matters regarding my life.
So, let’s take it out of the abstract. How do I enjoy a person ~ my husband, my child, my friend, my brother or sister? I make time for them. I do things that I love to do only with them. In an intimate relationship, there are shared memories and shared loves of certain things. I watch WWII movies with one friend, savor New England with my husband, share classical music and English dramas with my daughter, play with cats and even go to cat cafes with my son and his wife, go to the opera with my sister, and go to Desiring God conferences with a spiritual journey partner. The choices are endless but your list would look nothing like mine. Mine looks nothing like yours. That’s because no two relationships are alike. I can tell you about my relationship with God but that won’t be of great benefit to you. You have to have your own relationship with your Father. He will enjoy you, and you will savor Him, in ways that are unique to the two of you.
As you begin to carve a new path in your endeavor to find joy in God, you will begin by carving out time for your relationship. The friends and family members I rarely see, I lose touch with. I must make time for them. God is no different. Just knowing the God of the Bible can keep Him at arms length and impersonal.
You might ask if He desires you. The answer is yes. You are the object of His desire and in His desire, there is passion and warmth. There is commitment ~ enough that He gave up the life of His son to win you back from the curse of the Fall. What has He been doing until now? Waiting for you. Yes, He’s technically your Savior, but is He Your friend? It takes effort to make the Lord an intimate companion. Tomorrow, we will explore ideas for what to do in your time together. I can’t wait.
Lord, stir up desire for You. In even this, I need Your help and grace. Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Tuesday, 30 January 2024.
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