A Daughter’s Delight
Have you seen those darling daddy-daughter dance photos floating around Facebook? They melt me. The little girls with their satin dresses and mini corsages. The daddies with their matching neckties. It’s (almost) enough to make this mom of three boys try for a girl.
Picture it. Daddy and daughter walk into a gymnasium filled with Taylor Swift music and sparkling cardboard cutouts. The daughter spots her girlfriends in the crowd, grabs her daddy’s hand, and drags him across the room. “Hey guys!” she exclaims. Then she puffs out her chest and boldly proclaims, “I’m this man’s daughter! Aren’t I awesome?”
Just kidding. She wouldn’t do that. It would be odd (and somewhat disrespectful) for a little girl to proclaim her daughterhood before acknowledging her father, wouldn’t it?
Yet I’m afraid that many of us daughters of God are guilty of having that same me-first posture towards our own heavenly Father. We’re quick to plaster “Daughter of the King” across our t-shirts and social media squares without really recognizing our date to the dance.
Dear ones, our first delight shouldn’t be in our daughterhood. It should be in our Father himself. How do we delight in our heavenly Father? The same way a little girl delights in her daddy. She delights in who he is, in what he’s done, in the good gifts he’s given her, and in what brings him delight.
Delight in Who He Is
We can say that we’re daughters of the King, but that title doesn’t mean a thing unless we know who the King is first. No one would want to have Ivan the Terrible as their dad. But a benevolent, all-powerful, just, and holy king? A loving father who is everlasting, merciful, and true? Sign us up.
Thankfully, our Father has graciously made himself known to us through his word so that we can know and delight in him. The Bible is a feast for our souls. As we read it, the Holy Spirit will be faithful to deliver course after course of delightful truth so that we might glorify God as we savor him.
Delight in What He Has Done
Recently, I asked my boys to tell me why they love their daddy. “He cuddles with me,” the four-year-old replied. “He builds Legos with me,” the oldest added. “HUGS!” the youngest chimed in. Though they can’t articulate it yet, all those actions point to who their daddy is: a loving, tender-hearted, intentional father.
When we delight in what God has done for us, we are ultimately delighting in the doer himself. The God who keeps his promises is faithful and true (Nehemiah 9:8). The one who fights for us is our defender (Exodus 14:14). He who has forgiven us is gracious and merciful (Ephesians 1:7). The Father who sent his son to save us is full of love (John 3:16). May we delight in him like Mary did, singing, “For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).
Delight in the Gifts He’s Given You
God’s gifts to us are tangible reminders of his generous and loving nature. Just as the little girl at the dance looks down at her corsage and smiles to think of the man who gave it to her, we should look at the gifts we have received from above and consider the giver of all good gifts.
God has given his children blessing upon blessing and grace upon grace. In Christ, we have redemption, forgiveness, adoption, and direct access to God (Ephesians 1:3-10, 1 Timothy 2:5). But none of these gifts compare to the best gift of all—Jesus Christ himself! God’s beloved son is his greatest delight and should be ours as well (Mark 1:11).
Delight in His Delight
When I was a little girl, we didn’t have daddy-daughter dances. But on any given night, you could probably find me twirling around to Nat King Cole on our living room rug. I loved dancing to my dad’s music, and it delighted him to see me delight in what he found delightful!
In the same way, God wants us to delight in being his daughters because he delights in us being his daughters! Psalm 147:11 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Notice that he takes pleasure in those who fear him because they fear him. He delights in those who hope in his steadfast love because they hope in him. As John Piper wrote in Why God Tells Us He Delights in His Children, “At root, what God delights in about us is that we delight in him.” And we are only able to fear, hope, and delight in him because Jesus Christ has allowed us to taste God’s goodness through his death and resurrection (1 Peter 2:3).
Sisters, it is good for us to delight in being God’s daughters, but we must delight most in our Father—in who he is, in what he’s done, in the good gifts he has given us, and in what brings him delight. Like little girls at a daddy-daughter dance, may we boldly proclaim to all who will hear, “This is our amazing father, and hallelujah, we’re his daughters!” Our daddy is the King, and that should make us want to throw our hands up and dance!