Delighting in His Goodness

A few weeks ago our oldest daughter came up to me when I was dishing out dessert and told me, “Mama, God said I can’t have a treat.”

Taken aback, I simply paused and then softly said, “OK, I like that you’re obedient to the Lord.” Inside I was longing for her to enjoy dessert with us. My flesh didn’t understand and I wanted so bad to give her one anyway but I know better.

What happened next is where the magic is and I what I’ve been longing to share.

My sweet daughter said, “Actually mom, I think I have some jealousy in my heart. Earlier when my friend got lots of treats and I didn’t, I felt jealous. It’s still there.”

Guys. My 5 year old is some sort of wonderful. I immediately dropped down and pulled her in for a hug. What happened next was a moment that introduced me to the Lord like never before.

We walked through asking for forgiveness and asking the Lord to take that jealousy and replace it with joy and gratefulness. After all of this she felt peace accepting her own treat and enjoyed it with the family.

Y’all, if that is not a reflection of our Father. You see, He wanted her to delight in dessert. Delight in the goodness. However, there is a purity in her heart that He longed for her to reach before she could. If she would have taken that treat with the jealousy still attached, the dessert would not have tasted as sweet. It would have been a bit tainted.

Many times when we hear a no we sulk a bit or worse we do something knowing the Lord is not calling us to do it. We jump even after we’ve been told not to. What we don’t see is that, just maybe, it wasn’t just a no, it was a “No, first give me your heart. Let me purify it so you can truly delight in my goodness.”

Often we take the no at face value but the Lord doesn’t want to leave us without anything. In fact He wants the exact opposite. He wants us to have the fullness of him. He wants us to experience Him and share that with others.

” You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more.”

Psalms 16:11

In His presence we find the fullness of joy. This isn’t a partiality. If we long to live in His presence we must be willing to leave the ugliness behind. The ugliness that we might not even see until we’re on the brink of a season of delight. If we truly want to see His goodness we have to let Him weed out the ugliness. The jealousy, the pride, the greed, the fear, all of it. If we want that to happen we have to be willing to allow Holy Spirit to move in us. Our sweet daughter lets the spirit move no matter what. She was quick to admit her jealousy, unashamed and open. Already accepting the Lords no. Staying obedient to her father.

What if we allowed the spirit to move no matter what?

What if we were unashamed and quick to admit our sin?

What if we were ready to accept whatever the Lords discipline was?

What if we were willing to be obedient no matter what?

Friends, I whole heartedly believe that the more we allow God to weed out the ugly, all the more we are able to delight in his goodness. In what he has for us.

Like my daughter, there are things we hold onto and don’t realize. It isn’t until we are faced with a disturbance in our peace or joy that we are able to step back and see the condition of our hearts. I pray that when we do step back and see the condition of our own hearts that we are not as quick to blame the enemy as we are to say, “Lord, I give you my heart. Take the place of of my sin so that I can delight in who you truly are.”

Thats my hope for us this week, that we have eyes to see the dirt on our hearts. The dirt that covers His goodness and prevents us from truly seeing who God is. The stuff that taints all the goodness He has for us.

So lets do this together, yeah? Lets go into the week with a heart longing for purity and holiness, ready and willing for the Lord to weed out the things that taint.

Want to dive deeper into this with me? Get some insight as to how I actually practice this daily with my kids and myself? Join my facebook group, prayer filled chaos. Videos are posted every Wednesday to expand on each blog post. I’ll answer questions and share some of your thoughts every Friday. Lets join on this journey of parenting from His presence together y’all.