Over the past week, the same phrase has been running through my head: “Delight in the Lord.” For her sermon last Sunday, Jayne Davis focused on Psalm 37 and four key points that can be gleaned from the text: do not worry, trust in the Lord, delight in the Lord, and be still in the presence of the Lord. As I was listening to Jayne’s message and thinking about my good friend, Jonathan Boggs, who was ordained as part of this service, I reflected on how he lives these tenants out every day of his life. Whenever I ask Jonathan about how Parable Media, his media nonprofit is doing, he always says that the Lord is providing new ways for him to serve. He doesn’t worry about what tomorrow will bring, but simply gives it over to God, and trusts that things will work out. Whenever we hang out, I can sense an inner peace in Jonathan’s demeanor and his calm presence always puts me at ease.
However, I can’t always say the same about myself. If you spend some time around me during this season, you’ll find that the closer we get to “Christmas at First Baptist,” the more I become hyper-focused on the Christmas concert. “Inner peace” would not describe my demeanor during this time! But for the past week, Jayne’s words (or, King David’s words through Jayne’s sermon) cannot get out of my head: “Delight in the Lord and he will give you your heart’s desires.” And with these words running through my head non-stop, I can’t stop but notice the many ways that God continues to bless me, every single day. For example, less than a week ago, I got a new car! Right now is a terrible time to buy a vehicle, and at first I couldn’t even find a dealership in North Carolina with an affordable car on their lot. However, after spending days talking to salespeople all over the state, I found a salesman who was willing to hold a new car for me that was coming in that same week. On top of that, when I started negotiations to buy the car, he went ahead and took much more off the car than I ever expected. This man was a Christian and respected that I was a minister, so he wanted to make sure that I was taken care of.
That same day, Anna came down from Kentucky where she was getting our new dog, Abby, from her grandparents. After four years of very little socialization with them, we had no idea what Abby’s first week with us would be like. But Abby has made the transition to Wilmington perfectly! She has already brought so much joy into our lives. On Sunday, I had the privilege of being part of the ordination service for Jonathan, and then on Monday, Anna and I had the opportunity to get out of town for one day on my day off. As we walked around a beautiful lake in Elizabethtown, I truly felt the peace of God come over both of us. Every day since, I have seen God in sharing ministry with my coworkers, in the middle school guys that Gavin and I get to share life with on Wednesday nights, and in the worship that happens in choir rehearsal on Thursdays. Finally, Anna and I are going to our 5th and 6th weddings of the year over the next two weeks. It is such a pleasure to be in this season of life when many of our friends are getting married!
I’ve had an especially good week, but what happens when I get to a week that isn’t as obviously full of blessings? Like King David or Job, will I continue to delight in the Lord, every single day, on the good ones and the bad ones? I certainly hope so. For now, I’m going to take Abby on a walk and delight a little more in this beautiful bundle of joy that God has brought into our lives!
By: Steven Thomason, Minister of Traditional Worship