Delight is an emotion of pleasure and joy.[i] Its roots go back to Greek words that imply an abstract desire or a valuable thing that gives pleasure. Delight is more than just joy; it is the cause of joy. The feeling of delight, like all good things, comes from God. At the beginning of this year, I felt frustrated with my life. There was nothing that was necessarily wrong, but I did not feel the joy I felt I should be experience as a daughter of God. I felt as Nephi felt after his father died, “…when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth…”[ii] I wanted to rejoice and delight in life, yet something in me held me back. I needed to strive to align my will more with the Lord's and seek diligently to find that delight in life. As it the Lord says in D&C 4:7, “Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The Lord will give us delight in all things, if we simply ask.
I believe Nephi speaks of delight more than any other prophet in the Book of Mormon. His life was challenging, yet he found so much to delight in. He “delighteth in the scriptures”[iii], in righteousness[iv], and the plainness of Christ’s words[v]. Many of these delights he wrote of just after his father’s death. He took a moment that could have been riddled with pain and loneliness and filled it with joy and the love of Christ. I too learned the joy the scriptures held, as I spent nights pondering their words trying to find recluse for my lack of joy. I took responsibility for my life and my emotions and realized gratitude could cure loneliness and emptiness. Susan W. Tanner said, “We too should delight in the things of the Lord for it will ‘lift’ our hearts and give us cause to ‘rejoice.’”[vi] I have felt that lifting power in my life.
Delight comes, as the prophets have said, from obeying the commandments and aligning our will to God’s. Delight stems from the same Hebrew root as the word “desire.”[vii]As my will aligned with God's, I found a desire to find more and more delight in life.
That burning desire to pursue your talents, live righteously, ponder God’s words and honor Him is what leads to delight. Delight can come in so many forms, as I have found. As I have focused on living in delight everyday, more and more things bring me joy. Before, nature held little joy for me. It was simply a bug infested, dirty place. Nevertheless, now it holds much joy for me. I delight in the beautiful brilliance of fall leaves surrounding me. I delight in the serenity and peace of an early morning. I delight in the radiant and various colors of each sunset. My heart now delights in these gorgeous creations, knowing God putt them here for the joy of His children. My heart has changed, to see the joy in simple things instead of the extravagant, “for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness.”[viii] I now understand the pure joy Nephi explains here.
I too have this knowledge. I know that the Lord would have us delight in all things. The purpose of so many things whether a beautiful sunrise, song or child, they were all placed here to give us delight. I know that joy can be found everywhere if you just go looking for it. I know I found it. My life is not perfect, but I know if I just open my eyes, I can see with undiluted delight all that God has given me.
10 comments:
Valerie,
Thank you for your blog! It was concise and insightful. I enjoyed reading it.
that was an amazing blog! you did an outstanding job and i really liked how you used the greek roots. i also thought the personal expeirence made this blog powerful for all those that read it.
its so good to remember to search for this true delight from our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we search for the shallow happiness around us instead.
Wow, reading your blog brought me joy because it reminds me to remember all the blessings that we have been given. I also like the insight that "gratitude could cure loneliness and emptiness."
good job
I like how you used the Hebrew translation like we do in class. You also used great quotes and scriptures. I liked it!
Great blog! Thank you for bearing your testimony at the end! It brought me joy because it was filled with truth.
I really liked the title of your blog. It made it really stand out on the list of all the posts. It was very well written.
Excellent! What a delightful blog!
"That burning desire to pursue your talents, live righteously, ponder God’s words and honor Him is what leads to delight." Isn't it beautiful that when we seek to do what is right, we are joyful? Thanks for reminding me.
Your first scripture really touched me with the heart groaning. I think I literally felt mine doing the same thing.
I've never thought of delight as the cause of joy. awesome job!
Post a Comment