Before we go further let me be clear: If the thing you enjoy is getting drunk, numbing yourself with food or weed or alcohol or sex, God is clear about this in Scripture: these things damage you, damage others, and grieve God. I'm not talking about sin issues here. When I refer to the things you enjoy, I mean:
- reading a good book on the porch
- baking a rich and gorgeous chocolate cake (and eating it)
- finding the perfect maxi dress to wear out with your friends
- Saturday brunch with your besties
- taking pictures of your kids on your iPhone
- long walks with your dog
- running that half marathon you worked so hard for
- watching your favorite show in the evening
- eating soup and bread by candle light in winter
- playing music that lights up your soul
- doing your makeup once in a while - or every day
Can you overeat, watch gross media, spend too much and get addicted to your phone? Sure. But excess is a choice. None of the above, on their own, are evil. They are in fact the opposite - evidence of God's creative, joyous, beautiful, inspiring love.
What if we stopped running scared of our own enjoyment? What if we let it permeate our souls?
What if you shut your eyes halfway down the page and let His sun soak into your skin? What if you sat in awe of the author's ability to make ideas appear through words?
What if you ate that chocolate cake and delighted fully, with no guilt or thought to do otherwise - because He designed you able to enjoy it?
What if you spun in that dress and watched the ruffles fly like the little girl you once were, knowing He rejoices over you with singing NOW as much as He did THEN?
What if you saw His smile as you laugh and cry with godly women over waffles?
What if you accepted that He delights in your children's faces as much as you do?
What if you embraced that His character is on display in the forest where you walk your dog? That God did not have to design an animal so loyal, so devoted, and He did it anyway - for you?
What if, like Eric Liddell, you could say: “When I run, I feel His pleasure?"
Enjoying God's gifts changed me a few years ago. I stopped saving the things I loved for later. I wear white pants and white shirts because I love them and I won't wait till my kids are grown to wear them - instead, I learned how to wash them. I used the flour sack towels I got for my wedding, the ones I didn't want “ruined”, and instead ruined them over the course of a few years of use…delighting in them each time I scrubbed the dishes. I gained 10 lbs. eating the ice cream I couldn't have for five years of a restricted autoimmune diet and instead of lamenting it, I've learned to celebrate my changed body and accept my husband's delight in it too.
It is an act of faith to accept God's goodness, to revel in His revelation, to delight in His design.
When I look in the mirror in a purple dress with my makeup done and my hair just right, I feel joy – and that joy carries over to my kids and husband and work and home. It's a joy He gives me. A joy in the smallest of things, not required for my salvation or necessary to a life well lived. That's the best part: Christ is not utilitarian. He doesn't only give functional gifts.
He grants us joy in the seemingly meaningless, the “wasted time”, the sugar and the fat, the crescendo and the crocus, the stanza and the sonata, the brocade and the butterfly.
He is the author of all beauty, light, and joy. His holiness is not in spite of our enjoyment; our enjoyment of this life is holy.
Let your laughter peal and your feet beat the grass, friend, because it's not less holy to enjoy your life.
