Enjoying God?

If you are the kind of person that offers up a prayer as you crawl out of bed in the mornings, it might go something like, “Who do you have for me to help out today?” Maybe you should try turning things around and praying, “Who do you want to use in my life today?” Of course that is a little bit scary and very dangerous. It could open the door for God speaking into your life through a wide variety of unexpected and even unwanted people. I mean it could be – an aspiring author, your lovely spouse, a disagreeable theologian, an insightful stranger or a cantankerous neighbor. And it could be one of your own children.

I had one of those conversations not so long ago. “Dad, what is our purpose.” “Well” I said, drawing it out to buy myself a couple of extra seconds. “I think I’ll have to go with the Westminster Catechism on this one. ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever’.” To which she insightfully and somewhat mischievously replied, “Why don’t we stress the enjoy part?”

You know, she’s got a point there. We do tend to focus on the glorifying God part and even then it’s in a narrowly focused “serving Him” in some sort of way. Which isn’t bad; it’s just so much bigger than that. Gazing at the stars, writing a poem, working in the garden, playing the piano, having coffee with friends, sketching a picture, making donuts or snowboarding can glorify God too!

Do you enjoy God? And how in the world do we enjoy Him anyway? Well….it starts by enjoying His presence. Personally I appreciate a calm quiet place that reduces life’s static and lets me sense the God who is there. Maybe that’s why I like empty chapels, nature walks, attic rooms, cabins and lonely beaches. These types of places make it easier to ponder and enjoy.

Enjoying is also marveling at the mighty mysterious wondrous God. I hesitate to list the characteristics attributed to God. It seems so sterile, dry and impersonal. No, definitions alone will not do here. What we want is to interact with the omnipotent God at the Red Sea, to worship the holy God before whom David danced, to communicate with the gracious God who gave Hannah a son, to connect with the faithful God of Abraham. We enjoy a personal God whose supernatural attributes touch our very normal days.

To enjoy God we must let ourselves move beyond formalities, definitions and moralistic relationships. Ultimately we enjoy God most when we view our relationship with Him as He views it. God says He has lavished His love on us so that we are called sons and daughters. He says we are heirs and that we are His beloved. Hey, I’m not making this up. If we can truly believe this and if we can live with this reality in sight, our enjoyment of Him will know no bounds.