What makes God smile

Yesterday after lunch, Sydney and I got in the family van and took off on a trek to Lynchburg, Virginia, to see Britt Nicole in concert.  I knew the price I was paying would include 6 hours in the car, 2 general admission tickets and the possibility of being a six foot, one inch man surrounded by four foot something screaming girls.  Yes, I went willingly.

Obviously I was excited about taking Sydney to see her favorite Christian artist, but the longer we drove, the more excited I got.  Listening to the songs by Britt Nicole on the iPod and hearing Sydney not only sing along with them but also let out the occasional “I can’t believe I’m actually going to SEE her sing these songs” scream just made the smile on my face grow bigger and bigger, and at some point about 25 miles south of our destination, God told me that’s how he feels about his kids, too.

Psalm 149:4 says that the Lord takes delight in his people.  The prophet, Zephaniah, went one step further when he wrote that the Lord will take great delight in us (Zephaniah 3:17).  That phrase “great delight” means “to exult” and “to exult” means “to be extremely joyful.”

Let that sink in for a bit.  We cause our Father extreme joy, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of the way we receive what he’s done: thankfully, gracefully, unashamedly.

Sydney couldn’t contain the joy she had over a gift I had given her, and every squeal that slipped out on the way to the concert and during the concert caused the uncontainable to slip out of me, too.  I couldn’t stop smiling as I watched her enjoy the gift she had been given, and I could have listened to her talk about it all the way home…if only she had been awake.

But she was sleeping, a smile firmly planted on her face that matched the one on mine.

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