From the first, Satan has desired to reign over God's kingdom. There is a battle for allegiance. This fallen place we call the world, is the place Satan appears as an angel of light. He promises fulfillment through vanity, and materialism and power and extreme beauty and sex--but all of these, in the end, will disappoint and leave us longing for more.
But God created us to see the invisible fingertips of Him in our lives, the glory of His creation, the reality of His love manifested in countless ways and the generous and abounding love expressed throughout the story of His people.
But to see this glory and to experience the wild freedom He has provided, we have to look at our lives through the lens of eternity. We must develop ears to hear His true kingdom messages.
To be Holy means to be set apart--apart from the crowd--as David was. He saw the giant, Goliath, as an opportunity to show the glory of God and his reality and power. "Whereas David celebrated God as the One who created laughter, beauty, pleasure, music, food, and goodness, Satan would love for me to believe that God is a spoiler--one who looks for my faults, who delights in making my life difficult and in ruining my hopeful expectation fo what life could be. After all, didn't Satan start out by suggesting doubt in God's goodness to Adam and Eve? It seemed I had slowly forgotten that God was good. I had inadvertently bought into Satan's suggestion that God was only interested in my dry obedience.
What if, in truth, our God is the party Planner? (Didn't He say He was preparing a wedding feast for us and building mansions in heaven?) What if the same God who created a breathtaking garden, planned purpose and the love of family and friendship and the fulfillment of productive work, who delighted in children, who touched the sick and rejected, and who gave grace to the prostitutes and tax collectors is the God whose companionship we can enjoy each day?
As I thought on this, I realized that duty, forced obedience, and works never satisfied my soul or fooled my mind into thinking that dry acquiescence to spiritual dogma was equivalent to being a Christian who really knew and loved God. Knowing God deeply, intimately, personally within the borders of my own personality was what I hungered and thirsted for. I wanted to dance as David danced!
As I searched scripture for a model for what I was feeling, I found David to be a kindred spirit in this. He learned to dance before God with all of His heart. He trusted God in season and out. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and thinking about David’s heart of Holy Joy.
May your heart, today, be filled with the invisible reality of His presence, His wisdom and His ways even in this day and this place in your life.
