The Practice
- Brooke Singleton
- Jan 30
- 3 min read
“There is still joy to be found because God is there. He delights in YOU and your children, no matter what.”
“I was there, close to the creator’s side as his master artist. Daily he was filled with delight in me as I rejoiced before him. I was so happy with what he had made finding my delight in the children of men.” Proverbs 8:30-32
You know what I sometimes forget? God is JOY.
I love that in the Greek, joy is a state of being and an action: God IS and DOES joy. Our verse in proverbs today is as if Wisdom was speaking as a person, but scholars believe it's Jesus speaking about His joy over God's creation of the world.
When my kids were little, I didn’t really have community, and I soon found managing little lives alone was rubbing me raw. I found little joy in my day to day. I had lost the perspective that God was a God of joy, and that showed deeply in my parenting.
But the Lord worked in me, and helped me remember His core is not anger, but delight. It’s not sternness, but gladness.
A brilliant brother, A.W. Tozer, said, “We become like our vision of God,” for better or for worse. If we see Him as harsh, we will act harshly. If He’s a graceless taskmaster, we will simply manage souls. If we think He’s impatient and short, that will bleed into our parenting. Because I felt alone, I had begun to believe God was distant, uninvolved in my days, and I gave up on finding joy.
But there’s a reason Jesus is ALWAYS calling us to draw near to Him, to look intently into His Word, and to think about His character until the false assumptions that have seeped in pale in comparison to the truth of who He is. Let me remind you momma, if sleepless nights are blurring your days, if your three-nager has you at your wits end, if your teen is hormonal, or your 20-something is spreading their wings…there is still joy to be found because God is there. He delights in YOU and your children, no matter what.
I would bet that God's smile is matchless and hard to remove… and He smiles over YOU.
I would bet Jesus has the best sense of humor… and sees the funny in our kids.
I bet He’s the king of perfect one-liners and loves to hear our kids laugh… just like we do.
Moms, I’m learning I have to practice joy just as we have to practice love, peace, patience, gentleness and self-control. We have to practice things that don’t come naturally to us, so don’t accept the enemy’s guilt if you find yourself joyless. There’s grace to start the practice of finding it in our lives TODAY, and there will be grace waiting there tomorrow for us, too.
Take a moment to:
Reflect: How do you view God? Do you view Him as your loving creator that takes delight in you? Today, take time to practice delight and joy.
If you missed our podcast, “Delighting In Our Children”, listen today!
Written by Brooke, delighting in 3 kiddos