Delighting in Good

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:4

Good things happen to good people. Have you heard it before? I know I have. On television, in movies, music. It becomes a part of our way of thinking and how we live most times. But like with any game of Telephone or Grapevine, the message can get a little misconstrued along the way. Just as I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase before I’m sure you’ve also asked yourself “does this mean bad things happen to bad people?” And have you gone so far as to say “if good things aren’t happening to me, does that mean I’m not good people?” And I’m sure that has resonated with you, and you’ve sat in it, wondering if you’re a good or a bad person when bad things happen to you.

Why do we do that? Why do we jump so far with our conclusions about ourselves when things aren’t going our way? Some of it is imposter syndrome, where we feel like we’re pretending to be something we shouldn’t be, despite all our passion and training and the calling on our lives. Other times it’s questioning what that calling actually is, and we wonder if we’ve strayed from God’s will and purpose for our lives, like Jonah. But what if I told you that sometimes we’re like Job, and it’s all a test.

Job was the closest to God’s heart, and he suffered greatly for it. All because the Devil wanted to see if he would stray from his faith. If he would succumb to unhappiness and lash out as a result. He never did. In spite all the bad things happening around him, he stayed true to what he knew was real: God’s love for him, and the good person that he was. We can do that too. We have the power to choose to delight in the good of every situation, even when it seems almost impossible to see. God gives us little pockets of Happiness where we can hide ourselves away in the midst of turmoil. Sometimes that comes in the shape of family members, who love and support you. Sometimes it’s friends, who will stay by your side and constantly remind you of your worth. Maybe it’s colleagues or coworkers who tell you what a fantastic job you’re doing even when it doesn’t seem like it. Or the smile of a stranger on the street who has no idea what you’re going through and thought to smile at you anyway. These little pockets of Happiness are designed to pull you out of dark places, and they can, if you let them.

And above all the others, God gives us himself. David wrote “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” (Psalm 37:4) That word delight means peace, fulfillment, happiness. When Jonah was in the belly of that fish, he had to find delight in God to come out of the hole he dug himself. And on the opposite side Job, who had done nothing wrong, found delight in God and the knowledge that God can take and give whatever He wants from us, and as long as we stay close to Him, the blessings will return.

So I want you to take that with you today. The blessings WILL return, if you stay close to the Giver. Delight in Good, and know that good things happen to good people and you ARE a good person. It doesn’t happen all day, but find a Happy moment in Every day.