DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD

We all have things in our lives that we are working on. A dream that has not come to pass or a challenge that has not turned around. We have made some progress, and seen a sign of God’s favour but it’s still incomplete. The mistake we often make is that we wait for it to be completed before we delight ourselves in the Lord and celebrate what the Lord has done. The scripture says, Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

The key to seeing the completion of our heart desires is by delighting ourselves in the Lord and celebrating every little improvement or progress made. You are not totally out of debt, but you paid off some amount so, delight yourself in the Lord. You haven’t overcome the challenges, but you can see some improvement so, delight yourself in the Lord. You haven’t received your completed university degree but you are in the process of completing it so, delight yourself in the Lord. 

When you delight yourself in the Lord, He will release more healing, more strength, and more favour. But sometimes, we are so focused on the completion, that we miss and take for granted the little progress made so far. You are struggling with those illnesses, but you haven’t had one for some time now, delight yourself in the Lord… Say to Him, “Lord, thank you that I’m getting better”. 

When Jesus needed food to feed 5,000 people, His disciples brought Him 5 loaves of bread, and 2 fish, and said, “This is all we could find”. Jesus could have looked up to the heavens and said, Father, are you joking? I need to feed 5,000 and this is what you have given me? But He saw it from a different perspective. He thanked the Father for the five loaves and two small fish”… Because He was grateful to the Father for the little, the Father multiplied it and gave Him more. (Matthew 14:16-21)

Are you complaining about the little progress made so far, or are you delighted in the Lord for the improvement you have seen so far? Are you so focused on how far you have to go that you are missing the small miracles along the way? Don’t let the completion of what you believe God for keep you away from delighting yourself in the Lord and celebrate the little progress made!

When the Israelites had a dream to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. It was a huge task, people came from all over, and after much work, they finally finished the foundation. The scripture says, “When they completed the foundation, they all gathered together, blew their trumpets, clashed their cymbals” and rejoiced. (Ezra 3:10-12)

All they had completed was just the foundation, yet they had this huge celebration, they were delighted and had a big party. They didn’t have any walls up, no roof, no chairs, just completion of a foundation! They could have thought, “We are never going to get the rest of the materials. We will never be able to finish”. Instead, they were celebrating their little progress and delighted in the Lord.

There was a man named Jonah who made a mistake. He tried to run away from God and wouldn’t do what he knew he was supposed to do. He ended up in the belly of a whale. It looked hopeless, looked like he was done. It was dark, smelly, no way out of the natural. But sitting in the belly of the Whale he said, God “But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise… (Jonah 2:9)

He could have been depressed and negative. Instead, he was thanking God that he was still alive. There were plenty of things to complain about but he found the one right thing, and he thanked God that though he wasn’t out, he wasn’t delivered, but at least his life was spared. As he thanked God and delighted himself in the Lord, God worked behind the scenes and had the whale spit him up… 

It’s easy to complain about what is not right. “God, get me out of this fish, it stinks in here”. Modern-day; “God, I don’t like my work, these people don’t treat me right”. Complaining doesn’t get God’s attention. When we complain, God tunes it out. If you want God to show up and turn it around, you have to do it like Jonah. Even in the tough times, find something to thank God for.

In the scriptures, when God created on the first day He said, “Let there be light,” and light came. There were no oceans, no skies, no animals. Everything was chaotic. It was an unfinished product but at the end of that day, God said, “It was good”.

On the second day, God separated the waters from the sky. He still hadn’t made a lot then, there were no mountains, no sunsets. But at the end of that day, He said, “It was good”. Same thing at the end of day three, day four, and day five. It was incomplete, the miracle was unfinished, but five times God said, “It was good”. On the sixth day, when God completed creation, this time He said, “It was very good”. (Genesis 1:1-31)

SEEING THE GOOD AT EVERY STAGE OF LIFE

If you don’t learn to see the good in the unfinished or the good at every stage of life, you will never get to a stage called very good. If you are complaining about where you are, “Why am I still struggling in these areas? When is my dream ever going to come to pass”? You will get stuck. Don’t wait till it’s complete or till you see very good before you give God thanks. Find the good along the way and thank God for the progress or improvement made!

If nobody else can see what the Lord is doing in your life, you need to learn to delight yourself in the Lord and celebrate what the Lord is doing in your life. Have your party. You don’t have to tell anyone, just between you and God thank Him for His favour in your life. Thank Him for how far He has brought you. Thank Him for fighting your battles. If you will keep thanking Him for the good, God will take you to very good.

The enemy doesn’t want you to delight yourself in the Lord. He will remind you of everything that you are not. “You are not a good parent. How could you say that? You have these flaws, you are struggling in these areas. You don’t perform perfectly”. Let that go in one ear and out from the other. You can say, “I may not be a perfect parent but I can delight myself in the Lord because Jesus is my perfection! 

Who you are is determined by who your heavenly Father is… You have the DNA of God. When you make mistakes, the enemy will whisper those condemning voices, “Look at you, you are a hypocrite. God is never going to bless you”. Just answer back, “I may have made a mistake, but I didn’t stay there. I got back up again. I’m on the right course”.

On the first day of creation, when God said, “Let there be light,” there were no planets, no animals, no oceans. He knew it wasn’t finished but He still took time to celebrate. He still said, “It was good,” and we all have things in our lives that are not finished. Maybe you are trusting God for a favour or you are struggling with an addiction, some kind of bad habit, not being patient, or always losing your cool. However, You still delight yourself in the Lord and feel good about yourself

People may look at you and try to judge you. “What do you mean, you feel good about yourself? You still have these weaknesses. You still struggle in these areas”. Just tell them, “Don’t worry, I’m not a finished product. You are seeing day one, day two, but day six is coming. He is going to finish in me who He has created me to be”.

In the meantime, hold your head up high. You may not be where you want to be but you can thank God you are not where you used to be. You are growing, you are coming up higher. Don’t get so focused on how far you have to go. Delight yourself in the Lord and celebrate where you are. Yes dear, Thank God for the progress He has made in your life so far!

If you are waiting for the completion and a finished product before you delight yourself in the Lord, you may have to wait for a long time and as well deny yourself the joy of the Lord. I’m not saying that you should ignore issues and not deal with weaknesses. I’m saying you have to find the good in you and the improvements you are making! Thank God for that good, delight yourself in the Lord and the hand of God will be more evidence in your life than ever before in Jesus’ name.

The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’! 

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment session below and let’s get interactive. God bless you!