Pages

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

God's Pleasure

"God made me fast.  And when I run I feel His pleasure."

Eric Liddell, who was portrayed in Chariots of Fire, was a  Scottish athlete/runner in the early 1900's.  He was a strong believer and spent most of his life as a missionary in China.

I love his quote and I've always kind of wondered what is it that I do where I feel God's pleasure.  It's sort of an abstract concept, b/c what is it to really feel His pleasure?  

I'm not completely certain, but I think in the past few months (purely by default) I uncovered my "thing"...my equivalent to Eric Liddell's running....  And I think I know what he was talking about.

I've have some health issues that I am so sick of talking about I won't even go into them right now.  But they forced me to slow down and actually literally sit down more than I was accustomed to.  In the process of those physical limitations I rediscovered my love of writing---honestly because it was one of the only things I could do.  Writing was something I always did as a kid; and as a young woman, I used to constantly journal.  But in the busyness of life...raising kids, keeping a home, working...I let that hobby slowly but surely drift out of my life.   

In writing again, I found that immediately a light went on within me and I, for lack of a better description, felt plugged into God.  It was a time I could have easily drifted into depression b/c of my health issues, but instead I felt alive in a new very real way.  Even if I was doing creative writing that wasn't necessarily spiritual in content, I felt that connection to Him.  It dawned on me that what I experiencing was likely what Eric Liddell meant about feeling God's pleasure.

I have found that anytime I use my creativity in any way...writing, creating, singing, listening to music, even decopaging; that connection is there.  I've decided that for me, channeling my creativity is vital to me experiencing God.  I believe that is how He wired me when He knit me together in my mother's womb (Pslam 139:13).  And I think we've all been wired in different and special ways...and perhaps if we can tap into to that, we can feel God's pleasure.

My husband has been wired to teach.  My friend Lindsay's "thing" is singing.  And my friend Clay, who just spent hours helping me with my computer in ways I will never understand, likely feels God's pleasure when using his mind in a technical, high IQ kind of way...  Certainly, the list could go on and on.

I love that the God of the Universe finds pleasure and takes delight in His creation (Psalm 149:9).  I love that we are all unique and have minds that think, process and see life in certain ways...  I am thankful for how He made me (Psalm 139:14) and that in His love for me He makes it possible for me to sense His satisfaction.

God filled my mind with words.   And when I write, I feel His pleasure... 




No comments: