“Experiencing God’s Pleasure”

“We’re leavin on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again…..oh babe, I hate to go…” Anyone remember that John Denver song? Well. Judy and I are leavin on a jet plane tomorrow and we do know when we’ll be back again…actually we’ll be back in 5 days. We’re going to visit our daughter and family in Michigan. We’re also going to give a presentation on family life to a group there.

Whenever I’m getting ready for a trip I tend to get a bit nervous. I can dredge up all my difficult travel experiences and “presentation” experiences from the past and project them into this trip. I do pray and things level out, but it’s always a bit of a struggle. You would think I would learn after all these years of seeing the Lord take care of me (and us) through  much “thick and thin”. 

This spiritual attack reminds me of Judy who had a fear of child birth when we were first married. We prayed that the fear would leave her. While it did somewhat after the prayers, it really began to depart thru the process of giving birth. Each time she gave birth the fear would be dispelled a bit more. By the time she ended this phase of her life, the fear was essentially gone. We would have preferred that the fear would have simply disappeared after the first prayer, but God had a better idea.

I can find that my anxiety in facing some sort of future event doesn’t just disappear after a prayer, although the prayer does usually bring back peace of mind. It’s actually stepping out and going thru the process, doing what I’m called to do that my peace and my strength returns. That’s been the story of my life…. stepping out to do God’s will, as best we can determine, brings peace and joy and strength. 

So, we’re leavin on a jet plane tomorrow. I’d prefer to remain at home, but we believe it’s God’s will to take this trip. So I’m counting on the Lord restoring my peace and giving me strength to do what I’m called to do. Ultimately doing God’s will is the bottom line for us. It’s our call as followers of Christ. He does give us the grace to do it. 

Remember the movie, “Chariots of Fire”? In it the famous runner and Christian Eric Liddell said, “I believe God made me for a purpose- but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.” As we move out into the grace of God and embrace his will, we can experience God’s pleasure. We can experience the joy of the Lord. That’s been my experience over the years. As we push through the spiritual warfare that often accompanies serving the Lord, we can experience the Lord’s pleasure and joy. And that is very good news.