by Larissa Westhuyzen
“Gratitude exclaims... 'How good of God to give me this.' Adoration says, 'What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!' One's mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.” – C S Lewis
“Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility.” – C S Lewis
“Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.” - Song of Songs 4:16
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” – John 14:3
This year, probably more than anything else, Jesus has taught me to see and seek out beauty in my life as a way of enjoying Him. Let me explain. We all gravitate toward beauty. Whether it is a whimsical flower garden, watching the waves wash ashore in the golden light, or savouring those precious moments of intimacy with our kids, our hearts chase the beautiful. Why?
God is the source of all beauty. All the arresting loveliness in the world is a poor reflection of His beauty. My heart is drawn to beauty because it is drawn to Him. But how does this impact our friendship with God. It’s got to be more than theological agreement. How does my heart follow? Let me invite you into four habits of my inner life that, by His grace, has drawn me into deeper intimacy with Him.
1) Enjoy the beauty together. I can remember countless times my heart has swelled with joy as I have held one of my daughter’s tightly and enjoyed their smell, their cheek against mine. I have learned to talk to Jesus about the moment right then and there. I tell Him of my joy in His gifts to me. I tell Him of how my soul aches that this moment won’t last forever, but then I am reminded of His goodness and faithfulness, and who knows how He may preserve those moments for me to enjoy into eternity? I enjoy the moment with Him as I think of Him right there with me. Because that is, in fact the reality. Sometimes I don’t need to conjure words. Just acknowledging Him in the moment is just as intimate, like a mother and father sharing a knowing glance of enjoyment in the antics of their children.
2) Think of those shafts of glory as the wooing of your Beloved. Jesus is using those mountain peaks, the symmetry of your spouse’ face and the fleeting elegance of a delicate flower to draw you to himself. He wants your heart to behold Him. And he graciously provides us with abundant opportunity to see reflections of his wonder. So, in those moments I think of Him. I think of the beauty of his character. I don’t deserve this moment and yet, because of Jesus’ work on the cross, He has an eternity of future beauty for me to enjoy with Him.
3) Remember life after “the Shadowlands”. Randy Alcorn introduced me to the term “Shadowlands” as a way to describe our broken world. If the beauty we enjoy on earth is in reality a dark shadow in comparison to the bright glory of the new heavens and the new earth, then life to the full as Jesus promises us is certainly not an overstatement. When my mind’s perspective is reformed to this reality, my heart is filled with worship and love for the One who has so abundantly blessed me with this future.
4) Glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Dane Ortlund in his book ‘Gentle and Lowly’ says, “We are drawn to the beauty of the heart of Jesus…Perhaps beauty is not a category that comes naturally to mind when we think about Christ. Maybe we think of God and Christ in terms of truth, not beauty. But the whole reason we care about sound doctrine is for the sake of preserving God’s beauty, just as the whole reasons we care about effective focal lenses on a camera is to capture with precision the beauty we photograph. Let Jesus draw you in through the loveliness of his heart. This is a heart that upbraids the impenitent with the harshness that is appropriate, yet embraces the penitent with more openness than we are able to feel. It is a heart that walks us into the bright meadow of the felt love of God. It is a heart that drew the despised and forsaken to his feet in self-abandoning hope. It is the heart of perfect balance and proportion, never overreacting, never excusing, never lashing out. It is a heart that throbs with desire for the destitute. It is a heart that floods the suffering with deep solace of shared solidarity in that suffering. It is a heart that is gentle and lowly. So let the heart of Jesus be something that is not only gentle toward you but lovely to you. If I may put it this way: romance the heart of Jesus.” I couldn’t say it better.
Let me pray. Jesus, we long to deeply enjoy you in this life as we are prepared for the life to come with you. We pray that our pleasures in the now would draw our hearts to follow the sunbeam back to the sun. Holy Spirit, transform our inner life to see you in all the beautiful moments of our life and to enjoy them with you. May our hearts be soft to your wooing through them and may our groaning with creation for the consummation of our redemption ever increase in our beholding.
Larissa Westhuyzen works part time as an Occupational Therapist in chronic pain management, and is the wife of Pastor Mike Westhuyzen of Enoggera Baptist Church. She has a passion for painting, worship and deep discipleship, and loves to spend her free time in the garden. She lives in Warner and is mum to two little girls - Lucy and Violet.
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