God really shows up when you least expect it, doesn’t He?
I recently had the privilege of serving at a retreat in Italy for women who minister cross-culturally in every part of the world. I participated in this retreat a few years ago, and so this time, I was a bit more prepared. Not only to witness blessings from the Lord throughout a weekend of rest, but also to receive them myself. We are so silly, as humans, to think that when we serve others, we can’t also be poured into by the Holy Spirit at the same time. As if God isn’t capable of meeting everyone where they’re at with the right message in the right moment. I love seeing how God works in the most unique ways for each of us individually. I witnessed hard hearts soften, words of encouragement make a deep impact, and connections that bless multiple ministries in different time zones. In such a short time, relationships were made, and God showed up in big ways!
This time, he showed himself to me in subtle conversations and obscure scriptures. The Holy Spirit kept revealing to me that I am truly seen and truly known by the Father. God used women around me to speak truth into my life. I received uplifting comments, encouragement in my gifts and specific prayers that I carried with me once I left. I came away with one of those ‘aha’ moments we get from time to time as Christians. The one where we think, “How did I not see it this way before??” and it changes our perspective for the better! An obscure verse that I rarely hear, but somehow came up before and after the trip quite a bit was Zephaniah 3:17. It says,
“The Lord your God is with you,
The Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
In his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
He will take great delight in you. What a loaded statement. I really sat in this section and the Holy Spirit sat right there with me. Great delight. In every part of me? The good, the bad, the ugly, the weird, the anxious, the fun, the creative, the weirder – all of it. He delights in all of me and rejoices over me with singing. Wow, God really loves me! The desire of every human being. The thing people long for… to be fully, deeply, and truly known. We don’t have to look any further! We’ve already got it! When we lean into a deeper relationship with our Father, we can see that a bit clearer. Not only does God delight in every aspect of me, but He created me that way! He knew what He was doing, and He desires for me to delight in Him right back. Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” When we focus on God and his heart, our desires start to look like his. His desires become our desires, and we are in alignment. As I have been encouraged by the beautiful simplicity of this word, delight, I hope that it will bless you as well. When we choose to look to the Father in all things, we experience a mutual delight in our relationship that goes beyond what words can describe. I am still learning what this means in my life, but it feels pretty groundbreaking. I pray that you would reflect today on what it means to delight in the Lord and what it means for Him to delight in you.
Carryn Osborn
Carryn is a part of our Christ’s Church family and serves as a host with our creative team and Foster Care Communities. She is the Connection Lead at Schuber Mitchell Homes and enjoys planning events for her coworkers. Carryn loves to travel, spend time with her nephews, and play pickleball!
