Making God Smile :)

This summer, I received an email from a friend discussing the upcoming year and what she wanted from me in our Women's prayer ministry. While reading, I see she has an obvious gift for communicating, encouraging and for organization. (I'm jealous about that organization one!) At the end she writes: "You make God smile!"

Huh? It was the strangest feeling...I felt uncomfortable with this statement. Myself being a "recovering legalist" thought that she was mistaken and probably shouldn't speak for God. He might zap her or something for being so presumptuous. I mean, he is God. He knows the real me and He is not smiling!

So, I continued to get emails from her and there it would be again, the smiling God thing. Didn't she know that God is really angry with me? The more I thought about it, the more confused I grew but I liked the idea of God smiling! I certainly could believe God smiled on others so why was I so reluctant and even resistant to his smiling upon me? I really liked the idea of being pleasing to God but have been so convinced that I was "bad" or maybe I was choosing to believe things about God that simply were not biblical. I knew it was time to dig into his word and see for myself. The character of God is a vast subject but I'm looking for his smile....

Here are a few verses that certainly imply a smiling God and father that delights in his children:

Zeph 3:17: The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.


Psalm 67:1 May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us.

God the Father was happy with His Son Jesus as seen in Matt.17:5: While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

Genesis 3:26 tells us we were created in his image. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,".... He smiles, and so He made us able to smile.

So I'm now in the habit of seeing God for who he really is as defined through the word of God. How he is a creator of a vast universe and yet knows my name and delights in me...I cannot fathom it. But I know he is and has been faithful. I feel his warmth and am infused with joy when I take the time to become more like him through the study of his word. I am beyond thankful that His promises are many and His love for us is immeasurable.

God doesn't change us so He can love us, He loves us as we are so he can change us!

Thankfully, there is a God and he smiles!



Psalm 103: 8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;