because what if we chose to *enjoy* right now

I wasn’t planning on “picking a word” to focus upon for this new year. But a word found me. (Not to be too romantic.)

I was sitting alone with God — in a moment of margin — and the word “enjoy” landed in my spirit. Enjoy.

At first I said it out-loud as a question. Enjoy? And then as a statement. Enjoy. And then the word itself started to sound odd as I kept saying it. (Does that ever happen to you?)

Enjoy.

 

 

I laughed a little and said to God, “You designed us to enjoy You.” Then I ached because I wondered how many Jesus-followers could actually say they enjoy God. You know — smile in the secret place with Him.

 

en·joy
/enˈjoi/

Verb
Take delight or pleasure in (an activity or occasion).

Synonyms
relish – delight – like

 

Or what about the people I love or the situations in which He places me in the day-to-day. Can I honestly say I purposefully enjoy them, or do I look past them to the next “thing”?

I know what you may be thinking. “How could I possible enjoy this particular person?” or “How could I possibly enjoy this situation?”

I get that. Whether it’s the dailiness of sibling bickering or cleaning messes or marital strife. Or maybe it’s pure devastation to your heart or family. I get that some seasons and people are near impossible to “enjoy.” So I don’t say any of this with pollyannaish naivety.

I know life can be excruciating at times.

But what if we decided to find enjoyment. To seek it out. To purposefully lift the rocks and search for beauty.

Because regardless of who or what or where, God Himself can still be enjoyed. Like when Paul and Silas sang hymns of praise in the jail cell. With their feet in stocks and wounds from being beaten, they enjoyed their God. (Acts 16:23-25)

 

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:17-18

 

So my word for the year is “enjoy.” Because I think He’s challenging me to not let this particular moment slip away. Rather focus upon how I can enjoy either Him or those who share it with me. So here I go. By His grace, and through the empowering of His Spirit, I’m off to enjoy.

{After I wrote this post I remembered this slam poem by Propaganda. The woman in the “love story” is time. I thought it fit well. Click here if you cannot see the video.}

 

 
Fill me, Lord…

Have you picked a word for the year? What is it?