Enjoying God

"The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

-The Westminster Catechism

The entire purpose of the human race is two-fold: to glorify God, and to enjoy God.

One of those is significantly easier for me than the other.

I like to glorify God. I like to do all kinds of things with my life that bring glory to God and advance His kingdom. Look at what I'm doing now: I am a missionary leading people to the foot of the cross. 

This summer, I will have been a Christian for fifteen years. That is pretty crazy, especially when I think about the fact that I have been committed to following Christ for all of those years. And I have almost figured out what it means to glorify God with my life.

But enjoying God? That is something different. 

It is so much easier for me to work FOR God than to simply enjoy God. I can work and work and work and feel like I am getting fulfilled from it, but sometimes I can't just spend time with God. 

I have been doing pretty good with my devotional life since coming to Peru. I started with Genesis my first week here, and am now in the middle of Deuteronomy, and God has been revealing Himself to me. In fact, the whole purpose for me wanting to read the Bible straight through in its entirety was so that I could figure out how to represent God accurately. I am staring to get a glimpse of who God really is.

But the thing is, if I really understood who God is, "I ought to just sit around all day basking in the love of God instead of trying to prove my love to Him." (Francis Chan)

I was reminded of my bad habit of being Martha the weekend in Cusco. I love jumping into ministry, but sadly, when I do, I neglect actually spending time with the One whose ministry I am doing. 

But I want to not only glorify God with my life, but also to enjoy God.

In fact, John Piper said the the real "chief end of man" is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever. If that is true, if "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," (John Piper) then I need to change how I live my life. My first concern should be to enjoy God, and then to work BECAUSE of the amazing change He has made in my life.

"I thought that Jesus said, 'Come unto me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you more to do than anyone else!' But Jesus didn't say that. He promised me rest. But I couldn't find it. My constant struggle to be 'godly' left me tired, empty, lonely on the inside, and ready to give up...[So] I gave up. I surrendered...I stopped trying to be in charge of my spiritual goodness, because I didn't have any spiritual goodness. I had worked for God and yet withheld my heart from Him. I'd sought to please Him and missed that He was pleased with me. I tried to do so many things for God that I missed being with God...I discovered that the Christian life is not about trying harder. It is not about keeping it all together. It is about trusting in the One that can keep it all together."

-Nicole Johnson