No, I'm not talking about the Turkish treat, but about the action verb. Delight means (according to Dictionary.com) something that gives great pleasure, a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture. An antonym of delight is disappointment.
I decided to look up the meaning of this word, delight, after coming across Psalm 41:11 last night. 'By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.'
I love this verse for two reasons: 1) it tells me that the victory over my enemy comes because He delights in me and 2) it gives me hope that my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. I think a third reason I love this verse is that it speaks truth. He delights in me. Wow. What a jaw-dropping realization! I can't even begin to explain what this means. What I do know is that I am not a disappointment to God, and that is pretty cool, especially when I feel like a disappointment to so many people. He delights in me because He created me, not because of anything I do or don't do. And that is pretty awesome.
I was writing in my journal today and a verse came to my mind. I was writing about how I want to be back in Indiana for my birthday (Oct. 18), and that I have a lot of people in different places that I want to visit. As I was writing these desires down, it came to mind that He knows the desires of my heart. I did some searching to see if this was a verse, and came upon Psalm 37:4, 'Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.'
But, what does 'delighting in the LORD' mean?
I found this on the web. It's from Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary on Psalm 37:
We must make God our heart's delight and then we shall have our heart's desire, v. 4. We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in him. We must be well pleased that there is a God, that he is such a one as he has revealed himself to be, and that he is our God in covenant. We must delight ourselves in his beauty, bounty, and benignity; our souls must return to him, and repose in him, as their rest, and their portion for ever. Being satisfied of his loving-kindness, we must be satisfied with it, and make that our exceeding joy, Ps. 43:4. We were commanded (v. 3) to do good, and then follows this command to delight in God, which is as much a privilege as a duty. If we make conscience of obedience to God, we may then take the comfort of a complacency in him. And even this pleasant duty of delighting in God has a promise annexed to it, which is very full and precious, enough to recompense the hardest services: He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.
I love this: "We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in Him." I looked up the definition of solace and it means comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or trouble; alleviation of distress or discomfort; something that gives comfort, consolation, or relief. I am to not only depend on God, but comfort myself in Him, allowing Him to alleviate my distress or discomfort.
I understand that God isn't necessarily going to give me all of the desires of my fleshly heart/body, but He knows what they are and He knows that which is good and best for me. I think the desires that are good for me and that are in accordance with His will, He will grant. But, that's what I think, not what I know to be true.
So, What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.
He delights in me. Do I delight in Him?
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Because you're worth it
As I was watching TV tonight, a commercial for L'Oréal came on. Their slogan, "Because you're worth it," caught my attention.
I have come to believe the lie that I am not, indeed, worth it. If you read my earlier post, 'You is...' you would know that it mostly stems from my childhood, but has also taken root due to things in my adult years: things my parents didn't do that they should have out of their 'parental duty'. Some things I believe are that I'm not worth being listened to, not worth someone's time, not worth caring for...I believe that I'm not worth the space I occupy or the air that I breathe. That's what it comes down to.
This commercial, however, tells me that I am worth it. I know it's a cosmetic commercial, and that it's saying I'm worth spending a lot of money on just to have beautiful skin, hair, nails, etc. But, the message I receive is that I'm worth it. And I can take that any which way I want to.
I think I'm beginning to uproot the lie that I'm not worth it and plant the truth that I am worth it. I've actually been standing up for myself. When I'm talking and my friend does something like unmute the TV and start paying attention to the commercial that's on or gets up and walks away, I say something. That's not something I do...EVER. I internalize everything and never speak up for myself. And what I've done here is fought the lie that I'm not worth being listened to.
It happened again today. I spoke out for something that just didn't seem right as a way a friend should and shouldn't be treated. I might have been wrong, or my friend might have disagreed, but I spoke up and out. To be honest, I felt bad for doing it. I felt like I had done something wrong. Part of the reason I never speak up or out is because I'm afraid of being wrong and of being reprimanded for being so. I'm not even confident in the things I do say at any given time because I'm afraid they are going to be wrong or stupid or insignificant. That's how I feel most of the time: insignificant. I'm not important is how I feel and what I believe. It's the message I've received most of my life. I'm not important enough to be taken care of. I'm not important enough to be loved. I'm not important enough to be protected. I'm not important enough to invest in. My friend and I were talking about how I had spoken up and she said it's about time that I do. "You deserve to be right for a change." is what she said, or something to that effect.
I'm beginning to see that the more I see my worth, the more I stand up for myself. I've never seen myself as having any worth. I've been the one that everyone depends upon, picks on, uses and abuses, rejects...but never the one with intrinsic worth and value.
I'm not sure why things are changing. I've been away from home now since July 1, and have no idea when I'm going back. Maybe God has been teaching me these things so that if His will is that I go home for a time, I am able to fight the lies that so easily entangle me there.
I'm not important enough to...you fill in the blank. What do you believe about yourself? If you don't believe that you are important enough or any of the other things I've listed, you should. Because you are worth it. Whatever it is, you are worth it. I know it's not easy. It's taken me a very long time to get to this place. It's a constant fight to uproot the lies and plant the truth. But it's a fight that's worth it. We're worth it.
I have come to believe the lie that I am not, indeed, worth it. If you read my earlier post, 'You is...' you would know that it mostly stems from my childhood, but has also taken root due to things in my adult years: things my parents didn't do that they should have out of their 'parental duty'. Some things I believe are that I'm not worth being listened to, not worth someone's time, not worth caring for...I believe that I'm not worth the space I occupy or the air that I breathe. That's what it comes down to.
This commercial, however, tells me that I am worth it. I know it's a cosmetic commercial, and that it's saying I'm worth spending a lot of money on just to have beautiful skin, hair, nails, etc. But, the message I receive is that I'm worth it. And I can take that any which way I want to.
I think I'm beginning to uproot the lie that I'm not worth it and plant the truth that I am worth it. I've actually been standing up for myself. When I'm talking and my friend does something like unmute the TV and start paying attention to the commercial that's on or gets up and walks away, I say something. That's not something I do...EVER. I internalize everything and never speak up for myself. And what I've done here is fought the lie that I'm not worth being listened to.
It happened again today. I spoke out for something that just didn't seem right as a way a friend should and shouldn't be treated. I might have been wrong, or my friend might have disagreed, but I spoke up and out. To be honest, I felt bad for doing it. I felt like I had done something wrong. Part of the reason I never speak up or out is because I'm afraid of being wrong and of being reprimanded for being so. I'm not even confident in the things I do say at any given time because I'm afraid they are going to be wrong or stupid or insignificant. That's how I feel most of the time: insignificant. I'm not important is how I feel and what I believe. It's the message I've received most of my life. I'm not important enough to be taken care of. I'm not important enough to be loved. I'm not important enough to be protected. I'm not important enough to invest in. My friend and I were talking about how I had spoken up and she said it's about time that I do. "You deserve to be right for a change." is what she said, or something to that effect.
I'm beginning to see that the more I see my worth, the more I stand up for myself. I've never seen myself as having any worth. I've been the one that everyone depends upon, picks on, uses and abuses, rejects...but never the one with intrinsic worth and value.
I'm not sure why things are changing. I've been away from home now since July 1, and have no idea when I'm going back. Maybe God has been teaching me these things so that if His will is that I go home for a time, I am able to fight the lies that so easily entangle me there.
I'm not important enough to...you fill in the blank. What do you believe about yourself? If you don't believe that you are important enough or any of the other things I've listed, you should. Because you are worth it. Whatever it is, you are worth it. I know it's not easy. It's taken me a very long time to get to this place. It's a constant fight to uproot the lies and plant the truth. But it's a fight that's worth it. We're worth it.
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