Making God's Day

The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:6)

I used to read the account of the great Flood in the Bible, the story of Noah and his family, and see an angry, fuming God. It's not there. God was grieved and sad. This is just one example that God has emotions and his heart is stirred by what we do.We can bring God joy, and we can bring him sadness and pain.

God is fully fulfilled within His own being. God does not need you, but He desires you... and me. While God doesn't need a thing, still he made us to reach out to him and perhaps find him. To do so, he would have had to make himself vulnerable to the process he created. Amazing.

One of my favorite authors, John Fisher, has "sometimes wondered if God didn't purposely create a need (a desire) in himself for us when he made us, thus making him open to both the pain and the joy of a relationship."

When working on his first novel, "Saint Ben" John explores the idea of what happens when one takes the Pascalian idea of a "God-shaped vacuum in every human heart" and turns it around. What if there is a Jim-shaped hole in the heart of God, just the size to fit my rebellious, moody, and all-too-often selfish self? What if there is a you-shaped hole in the heart of God?

That God would carve out a place for us in his heart is a mystery. That we would fulfill it is privilege worthy of life itself. So go ahead; make God's day. Seek after Him. Bring him joy and not sorrow. The choice is yours. Just know that His heart is for you, He desires a personal and intimate relationship with each one of His children.