If you have ever eaten a caramel apple, you will understand what I’m about to say. Sometimes great delight comes through great sacrifice. It looks good and it is good, but the way to experience its goodness can wear us out. The first few bites are amazing, but soon it’s just not worth the effort. And then half the apple is left for the ants.
Delight Lost
Jesus had friends who appreciated Him, believed Him, followed Him, and even served Him, but somewhere along the way they decided He was just too much trouble. And they walked away. Before we get too critical, a little honesty is in order. I don’t remember ever wanting to quit on Jesus, but I confess there are times I lose my ability to delight in Him.
When the driver in front of me sits through the green light to return a few texts, I don’t delight. When people I love walk out of my life, I don’t delight. When the limits of my pain threshold are tested, I don’t delight. When I fail to meet my own expectations, I don’t delight. Maybe you can relate.
So when we are prying caramel out of our teeth, what are we to do? Perhaps these words can help.
Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
It seems I can delight in my circumstances until they change without notice. I can delight in my family, but from time to time even they take the wind out of my sails. I can delight in my calling, but even the highest calling can produce the lowest of lows. As accomplished as King David was, he did not seek delight in any of those accomplishments. Instead he found delight in the Lord.
You Delight
These familiar words put the ball in our court. David wrote, “Delight yourself.” The Lord is worthy, but we have the responsibility to seek our delight in Him. Sometimes we forget Him and seek delight in lesser things, smaller places, and fallible people, and then we are surprised when we don’t delight. We are not only surprised, but also disappointed, frustrated, confused, and maybe even angry.
It doesn’t have to be like that. David said that the Lord will give us the desires of our heart. Jesus is enough. When our delight is in Him, our desires are satisfied in Him. If we are empty, it’s not because Jesus didn’t come through. It’s because somewhere along the way we tapped out.
Happy Balloons
Sometimes we read these words and assume the Lord is on the Dream Patrol ready to show up with happy balloons to give us prosperity and health. After all, that’s what we put on our wish list. How our small dreams must grieve the heart of God.
You may remember these words from C.S. Lewis,
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Restless Hearts
Not only are we too easily pleased, we are too easily displeased. When we don’t delight in Jesus, we delight in nothing else. Inconveniences irritate us. People provoke us. And love comes with a web of strings attached. So our hearts, as Augustine said, are restless. We are agitated and angry.
I was reminded of this simmering anger a few weeks ago when I got the one-finger salute from another driver. In many countries around the world, drivers use their horns to communicate with other drivers. It’s an accepted and impersonal practice. But not around here. If you happen to feel the need to honk at another driver to warn of impending danger, you better be prepared for a confrontation because honking is not a courtesy. It’s a declaration of war! We are far too easily displeased.
Delighted
The good news is that the Good News can change all of this. We can trade our chronic dissatisfaction for an all new life in Christ who died on the Cross for our sin and in our place. He was buried, but was raised to life on the third day to prove He is worthy of more than a wink of polite admiration. By His wounds we are healed of our discontentment and filled with delight that never disappoints.