May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you His favor
and give you His peace. (Numbers 6:25-26)
Just what is it that makes God smile?
Perhaps we were not even aware that God smiles, but according to the Book of Numbers, God does indeed smile on us.
The verse above is a part of a priestly blessing; it follows instructions God provided to Moses for those who wish to dedicate themselves to Him in a special way.
God’s guidance on devotion to Him can be translated into a modern understanding through five specific things that cause God to smile. These are actually from a series on the Purpose Driven Life that many of us are familiar with.
God smiles when we love Him supremely. This means exactly what it says - that we must choose to Love God over and above everything else in this world, including our own individual desires.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
God smiles when we trust Him completely. This is very straightforward. We are to trust God in all things, regardless of whether our current circumstances appear favorable to us.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight. (Proverbs 3:5)
God smiles when we obey Him wholeheartedly. In modern society, this is one people most struggle with. Because of His omnipotence, God requires that we obey the guidance He has provided us for conducting our lives. Some people consider this guidance as optional, or that it is subject to individual interpretation – it is not.
You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice. (Deuteronomy 13:4a)
God smiles when we praise and thank Him continually. God is not in need of our praise. But He desires that we acknowledge His goodness because He wants to know that we are thankful to be part of His eternal plan.
Always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. (Ephesians 5:20)
God smiles when we use our gifts and talents. Again, God wants us to use the gifts and talents He has given us so that we find purpose in our life. But He also wants us to be mindful that all our natural talents and abilities are His gift to us, and they are intended for His purposes.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
Of course, these five main principles can be summed up in one main principle. And they are what causes God to smile.
God smiles when He knows we desire to follow His will and not our own. Needless to say, this is not as easy as it sounds.
God smiles because He knows by our following His will we become partakers of His Divine Nature, and we receive the promises He made to us.
This comes to fruition when we make the decision to follow God without reservation.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion and become partakers of the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
Let us pray this week that we might all desire, above everything, to follow God’s will for our lives.
Copyright © 2024, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit:"Moses Sees the Promised Land from Afar," James Tissot, Public domain, via WikiArt