I am a lingerer, a loiterer, an overthinker. I tend to get lost in my own thoughts and everything else seems to fade away. That can be a good thing when you have a vivid imagination. When your thoughts are fun and happy and take you to and fro in a land of goodness and light. But when your thoughts turn towards darker things, worry and brooding cloud the landscape, and it is not as pleasant. I gravitate towards staying in that place longer than is good or healthy. When it gets dimmer, instead of heading away from the growing shadows I have an inclination to let my eyes grow used to the fading light. It is like being in a room at dusk, sitting there with the blinds open, the light slowly escaping, the darkness deepening. Before you know it, instead of being bright and vibrant everything is varying shades of gray.
I have to make a conscious effort to get myself out of that place of gloom and murky dimness. And sometimes it is difficult to pull myself away from there. A few months ago we went to a local concert and heard a band, Tenth Avenue North sing a song called Cathredals. There was a line in that song that stuck with me and I made a note right then and there; it said to 'Fight back darkness with delight'. I love that. How often as adults are we truly delighted, feeling great joy or pleasure? To me delight is something a child is more apt to feel. A young child for sure. My 7 year old granddaughter is delighted when papa sprays her with the hose. She is delighted when she gets to lick the spoon when brownies are made. My 13 year old granddaughter was delighted the other day when we went to a store that was closing down and she saw some items from an animated show that she follows. I picked a couple of them up and said I would buy them for her; she was surprised and delighted. In my mind delight is an innocent thing. A simple thing. It is a grasp of the joys of life that can be ineffable, indescribable. A sudden burst of laughter, an inner glee, a deep feeling of contentment. Remember the game, Which one doesn't belong? That is where there is a group of pictures and you have to figure out which one does not go with the others. That is what we are talking about here. Darkness does not go with light. Fretting does not abide with peace. Turmoil does not remain with joy. Stress does not belong with delight.
Where does delight come from? Well the world would tell you that it comes from buying the newest model car. That it comes from having the latest designer clothes. That it comes from having the job with the most accolades, the education with the most degrees. Nothing wrong with all of those things, but they do not give lasting delight. That car will break down, those clothes will go out of style, that job will require too many hours and that education will always need to be continued. No, if you look at where delight truly comes from you have to go back to the bible. In the bible delight comes from knowing the Lord, in knowing His ways and knowing His laws. There are many scriptures in Psalms that say to delight in His commandments, His statutes and in His laws. And as we come to know Him and His ways - His truths, we enter into that delight, we are able to walk in it because we know that His word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. Other verses say to delight in the Almighty, to delight in God. As mentioned above, the things of this world will pass away. But the love of God, the faithfulness and mercy of God will never leave us.
Again the world would say delight comes in fulfilling every desire. Buy, spend, acquire, attain. Not. Psalm 37:4 says ,"Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." The older I get the simpler my desires are. According to statistics, this year alone close to 33 billion dollars will be spent on self-storage units. Money spent to store away things that we 'had' to have. I have just spent the past few months going through the last of the stuff from my mom's home. When she passed away Jim and I literally had three yard sales, filled a construction sized dumpster and donated too many items to count. She had acquired so many things over the years and much of it was never even opened. I found myself falling into that same trap, just putting it somewhere to say I had it. I was pretty ruthless this last time going through things and had a yard sale and what didn't sell instead of putting it back in the shed I either gave it away or donated it. I felt so 'light' after that. Relief that I wasn't responsible for all of that detritus, all of that debris.
These days delight comes from other places. Family, friends, a good book read, looking at all the Lord has done and rejoicing in His presence in my life. Delight comes from seeing things in the light of His countenance. When I turn from the darkness of worry and doubt and selfish desires and look to Him, there is so much radiance that shadows have no place. Now instead of waiting for twilight to overtake me I gravitate to His brilliance and let that light suffuse my heart and my mind and my soul.
I may still have times where I linger too long, moments where I loiter in the dusk, occasions where I allow my mind to worry and stress, but those moments are shorter now. In lieu of becoming ensconced there, I will choose to fix my eyes on the Lord and His ways and dwell in the light of His love for me.
I have to make a conscious effort to get myself out of that place of gloom and murky dimness. And sometimes it is difficult to pull myself away from there. A few months ago we went to a local concert and heard a band, Tenth Avenue North sing a song called Cathredals. There was a line in that song that stuck with me and I made a note right then and there; it said to 'Fight back darkness with delight'. I love that. How often as adults are we truly delighted, feeling great joy or pleasure? To me delight is something a child is more apt to feel. A young child for sure. My 7 year old granddaughter is delighted when papa sprays her with the hose. She is delighted when she gets to lick the spoon when brownies are made. My 13 year old granddaughter was delighted the other day when we went to a store that was closing down and she saw some items from an animated show that she follows. I picked a couple of them up and said I would buy them for her; she was surprised and delighted. In my mind delight is an innocent thing. A simple thing. It is a grasp of the joys of life that can be ineffable, indescribable. A sudden burst of laughter, an inner glee, a deep feeling of contentment. Remember the game, Which one doesn't belong? That is where there is a group of pictures and you have to figure out which one does not go with the others. That is what we are talking about here. Darkness does not go with light. Fretting does not abide with peace. Turmoil does not remain with joy. Stress does not belong with delight.
Where does delight come from? Well the world would tell you that it comes from buying the newest model car. That it comes from having the latest designer clothes. That it comes from having the job with the most accolades, the education with the most degrees. Nothing wrong with all of those things, but they do not give lasting delight. That car will break down, those clothes will go out of style, that job will require too many hours and that education will always need to be continued. No, if you look at where delight truly comes from you have to go back to the bible. In the bible delight comes from knowing the Lord, in knowing His ways and knowing His laws. There are many scriptures in Psalms that say to delight in His commandments, His statutes and in His laws. And as we come to know Him and His ways - His truths, we enter into that delight, we are able to walk in it because we know that His word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. Other verses say to delight in the Almighty, to delight in God. As mentioned above, the things of this world will pass away. But the love of God, the faithfulness and mercy of God will never leave us.
Again the world would say delight comes in fulfilling every desire. Buy, spend, acquire, attain. Not. Psalm 37:4 says ,"Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." The older I get the simpler my desires are. According to statistics, this year alone close to 33 billion dollars will be spent on self-storage units. Money spent to store away things that we 'had' to have. I have just spent the past few months going through the last of the stuff from my mom's home. When she passed away Jim and I literally had three yard sales, filled a construction sized dumpster and donated too many items to count. She had acquired so many things over the years and much of it was never even opened. I found myself falling into that same trap, just putting it somewhere to say I had it. I was pretty ruthless this last time going through things and had a yard sale and what didn't sell instead of putting it back in the shed I either gave it away or donated it. I felt so 'light' after that. Relief that I wasn't responsible for all of that detritus, all of that debris.
These days delight comes from other places. Family, friends, a good book read, looking at all the Lord has done and rejoicing in His presence in my life. Delight comes from seeing things in the light of His countenance. When I turn from the darkness of worry and doubt and selfish desires and look to Him, there is so much radiance that shadows have no place. Now instead of waiting for twilight to overtake me I gravitate to His brilliance and let that light suffuse my heart and my mind and my soul.
I may still have times where I linger too long, moments where I loiter in the dusk, occasions where I allow my mind to worry and stress, but those moments are shorter now. In lieu of becoming ensconced there, I will choose to fix my eyes on the Lord and His ways and dwell in the light of His love for me.