Created for His Pleasure - Revelation 4:11

I have been reading Jan Karon’s The Mitford Series/Father Tim Novels. In one of the volumes, a character asks the protagonist, Father Tim, the meaning of one’s existence. In reply, the clergy quotes Revelation 4:11 in KJV:

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created”...

Previously, whenever I heard the expression “created for God’s pleasure”, it felt to me as though such creatures were meant to be almost like toy-things or slave servants just to do the Creator’s bidding, though the notion does not jive with the benevolent character of God.

I can’t pinpoint what it was about the novel that helped me to see this scripture passage in a different light, (perhaps it was the way Fr. Tim relates himself with God throughout the story), but this time I was able to perceive the profound sense of God’s joy and desire for our companionship, the sheer pleasure in His created beings.

It so happened that I had a sick child on hand, which also might have helped my heart, as well as my mind, to understand: even when my little boy is spurting gunk from every pore and cranky to boot, it is my pleasure to be in his presence and take care of him. And we are His children, whom He promised never to let go, even if a mother forgets her own! Amazing!!

So His pleasure lies not in our usefulness to Him but in the inherent value He has lovingly placed in us. What's more, in the newness of life in Christ, we may be restored to fulfill the true purpose of our being; to give glory, honor, and power to Him who created us. Again and again I realize; it’s not about me, but all about Him...

There is so much of the scripture that I read askew from my broken prospective of God. I pray that the Lord will restore my sight by His mercy, so I may see the truth and live in the fullness of His grace and glory.

“When your word goes forth it gives light;it gives understanding to the simple” Psalm 119:130