How would you label the expression on the face of that Ugandan boy?

When my granddaughter started up her new bubble-making machine, the fifty or so noisy Sunday School children stopped suddenly with their mouths open. They’d never seen bubbles and were afraid of them! After being shown that they do not hurt, the children were delighted. Ecstatic, some were still afraid to touch the bubbles and used small branches to pop them.

When is the last time your heart was so thrilled that joy and delight registered on your face? Is this even possible in the midst of severe trials?

Everything God does is to increase our joy in Him. In the midst of our unworthiness and our pain, God’s love, majesty and tender mercy actually bring joy and awe. He delights in delighting us. “God is good and does good.”¹

My son’s username on one website is “Danger and Delight.” When asked what that meant, he said, “The danger is to delight in the gift more than the one who gave the gift. The delight is seeing the glory of God in every gift.”²

If it’s been a long time since your heart registered joy, reach for it. Like this boy. Pull out your Bible and “turn your eyes upon Jesus! Gaze full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”³

¹ Psalm 119:68
² Jason Harris
³ Helen Lemmel, 1922, public domain