Joy: The missing spiritual key
What if I told you that the key to spiritual growth isn't about trying harder or duty or obligation, but enjoying God more?
Do those words, “enjoying God” seem a little strange? We talk about worshiping God, obeying God, even loving God, or even fearing God, but enjoying God? Enjoying God may not be a concept we discuss frequently, but it's actually central to our faith.
In fact, the Westminster Shorter Catechism states that humanity's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And more importantly, this is very biblical.
Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight in the Lord. Psalm 16:11 says, “In your presence there is fullness of joy.”
My personal favorite is Philippians 4:4, where the Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
If you've been a Christian for a while, I'm guessing these are familiar words. But even so, when we think about God, this may not be our disposition, right? There seems to be, at least for many, a real gap between how we should position God in our thinking and how we actually do. For many, the concept of enjoyment is out of place.
But it’s critically important that we work through this because it helps us understand where the Holy Spirit is taking us. And when we know what that looks like, we can pray to that end. And we can better know that, whatever it means, it has been bought for us at the cross. Jesus died so we could be fully reconciled to a loving God.
So what does this look like? Well, there's a sense in which words fail here because we're talking about flawed humans relating to an infinitely good and loving and sovereign Father. But here's how I think of it.
It's deep satisfaction and rest and happiness in God. It's being taken by the beauty of all that Jesus did for us and all that He is for us. It's waking up in the morning and being excited about the goodness of God and what He has in store for me today, easy or difficult. It's knowing that God has everything under control and that He has killed sin and death.
And while I certainly am not there, at least not with the consistency that I'd like, this should be our trajectory.
There's another way of looking at what enjoying God should look like. If we do a study on what eternity with Jesus will look like, we'll have a picture of what life should be like for us now, too. Of course, the best version of this is waiting for us. But as we grow, we should be experiencing this more and more.
In other words we can get a taste of eternity now. The way we'll experience life with Jesus later is a real thing for us now, too. We can see Jesus talking about this in John 17:3:
“Now, this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
This intimacy that's found in knowing Jesus is not just future.
In order to move in this direction, we might want to Pray that God would cause us to see Him. Read your Bible with a constant focus on the attributes of God and his promises. We need to know Jesus better.
Jesus, you really are all we need for happiness. I'm sorry for being pleased so easily by other things, things that vanish. Thank you for holding on to me as I struggle here. Please cause me to see you more clearly.
Song: Way Maker