God Delights In You

"...the utter delight of a loving God who is deeply touched that, in the brouhaha of your busy life, you would devote even five minutes to spiritual reading."

- Brennan Manning, the furious longing of God

What is your reaction to this statement?

I'll be honest, my first reaction was disbelief and a little shock. That seems arrogant on our part. Our 'busy life'? That makes God seem needy, as if we are doing Him a favor by spending time with Him.

I mean, He's the God of the universe, isn't He? He deserves my every second, every moment, every emotion, every energy. He deserves my entire being, right? So anything less is sinful and pale, compared to how completely He is worthy of everything I have and am. Right? God expects 100%, doesn't He? And if He does, how could I even suggest that God is somehow happy with the crumbs I throw Him?

What if that is partially true, but that God wants us to love Him? What if, God has humbled Himself and doesn't force Himself on us at all. What if He has made Himself very vulnerable? What if He waits, patiently, expectantly, longing for time with us, like a love-sick companion, glued to the phone, waiting to hear from us? To communicate with us? To hear how we are doing? To share secrets and lean on Him? Not that He needs us, or is incomplete without us, but that He knows us and genuinely enjoys the person we are? What if He likes us?

Sometimes I think we've sterilized the world "love" in our version of Christianity. Most people, I imagine, when they hear that God loves them, aren't really affected much. "God is Love." That's what God's supposed to do. He loves us and so He sent His son to die for our sins. While that is critically true, I do think it is hard to relate to. Not many of us have had someone die in our place, nor have we laid down our physical life for someone else (if you did, you aren't ready this blog anymore...). Does that make sense? We understand the depth of that kind of sacrifice of love, but we don't associate with that or experience that on a daily basis. We are more familiar with the "honest, well-timed smile from a friend" or a long embrace. We feel loved with a touch here, or a conversation there. A gift, or an act of service done for us. And I think we need to be reminded that it is God who designed us to experience love in these ways and that He desires to show us love in the same way. I understand it will be different, because God is spirit... But how creative He is! If only we would believe that is His intention for us, we would have open eyes, like excited children, watching the world around us for His words to us, His favor and delight in us. Of course, Christ's death on the cross for us is the foundation, culmination and ultimate demostration of God's settled love for us. That creates the bedrock upon which our faith can rest, when our emotions are all over the place, life gets cloudy and painful and we don't feel loved. Knowing that, how much more does God desire to express love to us in personal, intimate ways, because we are uniquely special to Him? If God did not spare His Son, how much more will He give those good gifts of personal care and attention and love to us in our daily lives, if we would just have open eyes/hearts to it?

I have only read a small portion of this book so far, but I'm really enjoying it so far...