Desires...

Abba Father,

You know the greatest depths of my heart, my hands, my feet, my way.

You understand what lies inside every hidden place of my heart.

You’ve seen these hands attempt to offer a thousand sacrifices in your name.

You’ve witnessed every path these feet have ever chosen,

You KNOW the way that I take.

You said “delight yourself in the things my heart beats for.”

But I confess if I put all my desires on the altar before You today,

 I fear to think what you might find.

My spirit knows the gap between who I am

And the God on the throne.

Trembling, I wondered what I could possibly bring,

What would delight the heart of this great King?

But grace wouldn’t allow me to leave,

So I asked You to reveal to me the very things

That make your heart beat.

You said:

You delight in my obedience to your commandments and your ways (1 Sam. 15:22)

You delight in the victory of the Cross, over death, sin, the GRAVE (Psalm 41:11)

You delight in truth, in teaching us wisdom in our hearts (Psalm 51:6)

But You hate our worship gatherings where injustice abounds

Where your GLORY has no part (Amos 5:1)

You delight in showing steadfast love to thousands of generations

As you demonstrate your forgiveness at its best.

You delight in true justice at work in the lives of your people:

Orphans, widows, prostitutes, alcoholics, the religious

Finally coming to a place of rest. (Jeremiah 9:24)

You delight to save those from every nation, tribe, and tongue

When the praises of your people rise higher as they are sung.

You delight to break the darkness with your light,

When we see the chains fall off, cycles end, the peace of reconciliation win this fight.

You delight when our hearts finally grasp just how broken and needy we have really become.

You delight in the rescue, pursuit, claiming, saving of the people by Your Son.

Yet you warn, Your delights can appear as terrifying as lightening, 

they may shake us as thunder in a storm.

They are known to overturn plans, rearrange millions of lives.

They have resulted in bloodshed, in making martyrs of those who have embraced these desires as their very own.

And even though I could sit for hours as You continue to speak,

For some reason You stop and look at me.

As my King, as the spotless Lamb 

I see you get off Your very own throne.

In the greatest humility you kneel, 

You begin washing these dirty feet clean.

Tenderly you take all of my mess, my doubt, my fears, my attempts to sacrifice for You.

You nail each one of them to the Cross.

In the blood, in the agony, 

In the sacrifice of Your Son’s life,

The Cross cries out loudly, “ I delight in my GLORY, I delight in making all things new.

And I delight in my people. I delight in you!”