On tuesday evenings i help run a basketball league at the vineyard community center. What this means for my family is they don’t see me all day. I am usually the one that puts my 2 year old to bed, except for on tuesday nights.
So this morning my wife just happened to be walking by ava’s room when she woke up, so she went in and got her. I was in the room next to hers. As my wife walked in the door the first words out of my daughter’s mouth were, “is daddy here?”. Her mom told her i was and she immediately ran into the room, walked over to me, and just starting smiling. This caused a big grin to come over my face, knowing that she missed me and I had missed her. She seemed delighted to be with me, and I felt the same. After these few moments i moved on with my day, not thinking much about it.
Later on in the day I felt like the Lord spoke these words to me as He brought to mind my experience: ” Do you remember how excited she was to see you and to be in your presence? Do you remember how that brought joy to your heart? Do you remember the feeling you had when you saw her? You were delighted and filled with joy. The two of you delighted in one another.”
Then He said, “This is how I feel about you. I am delighted when you delight in Me. I am filled with joy when you ask for My presence.”
This isn’t a new thought for me, and I’m sure it’s not for you. But it leaves me with a couple questions:
1. Do I really believe He delights in me? 2. Do I really believe it makes his heart happy when I ask for and desire his presence? This seems like such a simple thing. I am reminded of Jesus’ words to Martha when he told her that “only one thing is needed”……ie. Himself.
I pray this week you will experience His presence in a wonderful and refreshing way. I pray you might get just a glimpse of the joy He has when He looks upon you. And I pray you might begin to ask more frequently my daughter’s question, “is daddy here?”.
