Fast Day 10: Surprising Delight

Delight might be hard to describe, but we know when we see it or when we feel it! It’s not just joy or happiness, but there is an element of surprise in it. It is an “all of a sudden” feeling. A spark of pleasure we didn’t expect. We are astonished in a positive way. It makes us want to high five someone!

Blessed is the person who delights in the LORD. Psalms 1:1

When we fast, we want to focus on Him and feel that kind of delight as we walk through our fasting commitment. What is a month without whatever, when we have a month of new surprises and astonishment, seeing Him in a different light. It is important that your fasting not just be about what you are giving up, but about what you are seeking instead. Spotlight Him and be blessed!

They seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways. Isaiah 58:2

God’s people who are close to Him always seem to have stories of what they have seen Him do in their life. They never just go to the post office. They see Him even there! Know someone like that? They look for Him every day and they see Him at work all around them. They are delighted to tell others about the latest amazing thing He has done. And we are delighted to hear about it! We don’t all communicate the same way, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t “catch God” doing something cool ourselves. Journaling is a way we could capture and remember His loving ways. If appropriate, snapping a picture might be more up your alley. Or add your thoughts to the Notes section of your phone.

The important thing is that we are on the lookout for Him out there in the world, and responding, here in our heart. We always find out something new when we start a relationship with someone and see how they interact with other people. It’s the same in our relationship with Jesus. He wants more than to just hang out in your prayer closet or in front of the TV, He’s already seen that one. Take Him out of the house with you once in a while.

His delight is in the Word of the LORD and on His Word he meditates day and night. Psalms 1:2

Have you experienced that same surprising delight when you are reading the Bible? Finding convincing information is not always joyful, but making changes based on that will soon bring joy. Carefully turning over God’s words in our mind is how God speaks lovingly to us, how He refreshes our mind and heart, and how He imparts information that makes a real difference. God uses these biblical phrases and spiritual concepts to enlarge and stimulate our imagination and see a bigger picture, and a bigger God.

He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does, prospers. Psalms 1: 3

God’s Word infuses our life with Holy Spirit (John 6:63). It is the source of all we need to grow, to produce fruit and to blossom where He has planted us. A life digging in His Word leads to the kind of well-rooted success that is profitable for our soul. This kind of life is a delight and a light to those around us. And what joy that God Himself prospers us.

There are many words that are similar to delight. Look up delight in a thesaurus and substitute a different word that makes sense for your heart in each sentence of the following prayer: (for example) I am glad to know Your ways. I am happy to meditate on Your Word. I am overjoyed to plant myself in Your Word. You are my satisfying source. Amen.