Month: August 2023

Delighting in the Lord

by Emily Rose MasseyContentment / Devotionals / Discipleship / Sanctification

When I am pulled into the temptation of complaining about my circumstances, I must ask myself some questions to gain perspective and do a serious heart assessment: if I am always seeking for an escape from the discomfort or trial, am I truly satisfied in Christ alone? Am I looking to material things, people, or enjoyable experiences to find peace or joy? I am truly content with what God has already provided for me in Christ? We know as believers we can always find answers and direction in the scriptures.

Psalm 37:4 tells us to:
“Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” 

(Psalm 37:4, NKJV)

The Hebrew word translated “delight” literally means to be delicate or feminine. It carries the idea of being pliable or sensitive.  In this specific context in Psalm 37, it means to be dependent upon God and to derive one’s pleasure from Him.

When we read this verse, we usually picture the word delight to mean to enjoy God, which in a way it does. But as I went deeper researching the Hebrew meaning of the word, I realized the verse seems to be a command to us. God is commanding us to find our pleasure and contentment in Him alone.

Here, also in this verse, the Lord is telling us that He will give us the desires of our heart once we fully depend on Him and His ways. When we have a full understanding of who God is and what His ways are like, we can take genuine pleasure in Him. Not because of what He can do for us, but just because of who He is. 

What begins to happen the more we take delight in the Lord, He begins to change our heart and change our desires to reflect His desires. Instead of thinking more about ourselves and what we want, we begin to think more highly of others and become less self-focused and selfish. Suddenly, one of our greatest desires then becomes to please God and tell others about Him, using our life to give God all the glory He deserves. 

Intersecting Faith and Life:

Jesus is the One who gives us the strength and ability to remain content no matter what we are experiencing. True contentment is knowing that Jesus alone can satisfy our souls. When we search for fulfillment in things, people, or even our circumstances, we will always come up short. All of these things we try to fill our lives with aren’t necessarily bad things, but when they become the end goals, and the reason for our being, they become idols in our life. We end up being discontented because those things were never meant to fulfill us. Jesus is the only One who can bring true contentment into our life. May we learn to delight in Him, and over time, we will begin to see how He changes our desires to look more like Him. Take some time to reflect and journal and express your gratitude to the Lord. If you are feeling discontented, ask the Lord to help you find satisfaction and peace in Him alone.

Further Reading:

  • Philippians 4:13
  • 1 Timothy 6:6-11

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Resting in Christ’s Perfect Peace

by Emily Rose MasseyAnxiety / Devotionals / Marriage / Prayer

My husband and I are each the first-born children in our families. Although there isn’t any science behind first-born personalities, psychologists have taken note of the common traits regarding those who have been born first among their siblings. 

In general, firstborn children have been found to be responsible, assertive, task-oriented, perfectionistic, and supporters of authority. With all of those leadership characteristics, a great amount of weight can be placed upon the shoulders of the individuals prone to be the rule-follower and goal chaser. This can often lead to much stress and anxiety if not constantly kept in check. When two first-borns marry each other, they can run together with fervor to achieve dreams and become very productive as a family, but the home also needs peace to reign in it most of all. And not just “problem-free” type of peace- a peace that passes all understanding regardless of what is happening. Only the Lord, Jesus Christ can offer us this kind of perfect peace.

In God’s providence, one of the reasons we named our first-born child, Isaiah, was because of a very special verse found in the book of Isaiah regarding this kind of perfect peace that my husband and I know that we need every single day. Right in the middle of a prophecy regarding the land of Judah, the prophet Isaiah uttered these beautiful words about the Lord and His peace in chapter 26:

“You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you”

(Isaiah 26:3, ESV)

For many of us, these last few years have felt a bit unstable. We have all experienced some form of worry, stress, and anxiety from the unknown future. From viruses, suddenly losing loved ones, empty store shelves, job losses, rising home prices, and hefty grocery bills week after week- we have all needed to find a perfect peace. Our answer is found in fixing our gaze upon the Lord and anchoring our minds to His unwavering truth. No matter what is going on around us, we can find an unshakable confidence in the Lord because He is ever-faithful to us. This is why staying in the Word consistently is so important when experiencing stressful or unstable times. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and the more we are studying the scriptures, the stronger our trust in God becomes. The Word of God is so powerful and the more we study and meditate upon it, our foundation will be strong in Christ, and we will continually know how to look to Him any time stress and anxiety tries to overtake us. Let us always be quick to ask the Lord for His sustaining grace and help in our time of need, looking to Him always because He cares for us. No matter what is going on around us, even if it seems like everything is falling apart, we must remember that God holds the entire universe in His hands. He is completely sovereign. Nothing passes through His hands by accident. He is in total control and has a great plan regarding all of it; We can trust in Him and rest in His great, perfect peace. Let us set our mind upon Him.

Lord, thank You that You want us to set our minds upon You at all times. Thank You that there is nowhere I can go that You are not there with me. Thank You for having a hold of my life, even as I feel like everything is crumbling around me. I confess that I have let stress take a hold of my life, rather than You. I have tried to control things in my life and at the same time, I have let anxiety control my mood, my attitudes and my actions. Lord, I repent of this! Please Father, help me see what is stressful or worrisome in my life and hand it over to You. Help me actively think on Your goodness to me. I am so hopeful for my eternity with you, Lord, where the presence of sin and fear will be no more! Help me look back on all the ways You have rescued me from my fearful moments and remember where You have always been faithful to me in the midst of great trials. Help me to rest in the truth of Your goodness and power today. Thank You, Lord, for Your perfect peace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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