Delight

She said, “I asked God for a delight...It was five minutes before I saw the fawn.” Beth Moore, a Bible teacher/speaker was the one speaking. I remember this one line from the conference. This one stuck.

The thought sounded a little far-fetched but made me smile.

It was just a new thought to me. To think I could just ask God for a delight. And He would give me one because I belonged to Him, because I was a believer in Jesus, the son of God.

That was some years ago. Since then, I’ve asked God for a delight many times, never knowing how He would delight me. If you have a relationship with Him, you can just ask. If He is your Father, you delight Him when you strive to please Him. And He longs to delight you.

But if you ask, try to expect a delight.

Maybe you’ll see some kindness, hear a child giggle, look down and find the lost phone.

The definition of delight, according to the dictionary, is something that pleasures us.

Once you ask for the delight, you’ll be more watchful, more aware. And you’ll see one. Asking means you are open to being pleasured, to receiving joy.

Beth Moore quoted Psalms 37:4. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart (KJV). Another version of the same verse says, Keep company with God, get in on the best. (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, by Eugene H. Peterson)

So we are told to enjoy the relationship with God so much that He happily gives us what our heart desires.

I think the Holy Spirit has to intervene for me sometimes in my requests. Especially if I forget to ask for a delight! But when I do ask, I’m more conscious of what’s happening. It’s awesome.

And if I’m keeping company with God, it’s not likely that I’m going to ask for something that’s bad and out-of-line.

Most of the time, I leave it pretty open-ended. God knows what will delight me. He knows better than I. That’s what Beth Moore was talking about. Let Him surprise me. Let Him bless me however He wishes.

All this to say: Lately, I’ve had some exceptional delights.

First delight: I got to go see the swans a second time.

Some people are taken by eagles and bears in my neck of the woods. I am too, but it’s fleeting. What grabs me more are the wild swans.

A week ago we traveled south with some church members to ponds east of Heber Springs, Arkansas, to see the majestic and graceful swans. (Magness Lake is another site.) They are precision, dance, beauty. They glide, they get excited, they fly. Did you know they can fly as fast as 60 mph? Pretty astounding.

Someone said, “Sometimes people just bring lawn chairs and watch for long periods.” I could do that! Just sit, watch, and soak up the peace, the beauty.

I love seeing how they flock together, almost as one body, gliding together, working together. You can see relationships between them. (It’s the opposite of brokenness and falling apart.) Exquisite.

One moment was weightless. I could see they were companions, family, friends. Delight is an understatement.

(Trumpeter swans are in Heber Springs, Arkansas, between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.)

Second delight: Our grandson Oliver, who is almost 21 and lives in Kansas, came to visit his Harrison, Arkansas, family and came to us for an overnight visit. We got to hear his excitement first-hand about going to Lackland Air Force Base in March. He’s already involved in the Guard with his training unit in Wichita every other weekend, but he gets to go to Lackland in March. He says, “It’s going to be fun.”

Here’s the thing that grabbed my husband and me: Oliver’s maturity and his high excitement about going to boot camp and later on, to a tech school. We heard daring confidence from him. We saw the desire to embrace whatever lies ahead of him.

His mind is already there in so many ways. Available and ready.

I asked my husband if he’d had that kind of excitement about enlisting and serving his country. He nodded and smiled. “But my maturity was not what Oliver’s is.”

He’s already visited several countries beyond America. That may add to his excitement level. It’s almost like he has found himself, like he’s being given a wonderful gift, so wonderful he can hardly believe it.

I am simply in awe of his excitement. I felt the same level of awe when watching the swans trumpet or take off into the blue sky.

Oliver feels his feelings fully and shares them. I think he’ll be okay even when there are times he’ll feel un-okay. He already has a community within the Guard, and more importantly, God will walk with him.

Oliver is free like the swans. He wasn’t one bit concerned about the snow he’d meet on his way back home. Maybe Oliver is a swan.

He certainly is a delight.

God bless my kind readers,

Pat Durmon

(patdurmon.com)

Swans in Heber Springs, Arkansas. Photographed by Pat Durmon, January 2020.