What does it mean to "Feel God's Pleasure?"

Growing up my dad's favorite movie was always Chariots of Fire, that old runners movie about an olympic runner (Eric Liddell) who refused to run in his race because it was on Sunday, the Lord's Day. Growing up I can't say that I liked the movie, nor that I understood it fully. You see it's an 80's movie, so the "old school" quality and acting were not high on my list. Besides, it's all about running which I hate with a passion. To this day I am not even sure if I have seen the movie in it's entirety.

Well not only was this one of my dad's favorite movies, he also had a favorite quote. Eric Liddell says in this movie, "when I run, I can feel His pleasure." That's the kind of quote that can send chills down your spin and may only rivaled by the images of Moses speaking with the the Lord in the burning bush, or maybe the sight of God as He, with His own finger carves out the 10 commandments.

Yet even though my spine was adequately chilled by all these I don't think I really and truly grasped what they meant or the fullness of their significance. What does it really mean to "feel God's pleasure?" And is it even possible? Growing up I dismissed the movie and the questions with little to no thought. Maybe because it was too hard. Maybe out of laziness. Maybe out of fear or maybe because I just didn't care.

Last night however I made the statement to someone, "I just LOVE ministry!" and they asked me why the "outburst?" I had this overwhelming feeling of fulfillment and joy, of well pleasure but I didn't really have an answer. I tried to give some reasons but as I walked away they felt shallow. Yes it was AWESOME that we had 3 new kids at Kids Club as a result of our Saturday Halloween outreach. Yes it was so rewarding to see a return student from last year at Youth Group again as a result of the Saturday outreach. But the more I thought about this, the more I realized that was not it. As the night went on and more kids signed up to attend Dare2Share this weekend my joy and enthusiasm was building, but not because of numbers. Not because of feeling successful. So then what was it? I couldn't describe it, nor could I understand it myself. Well until this morning.

This morning is when Eric's words, the quote of my Father during childhood, rang true in my heart. "When I run God, I feel Your pleasure." That's what it is. It's not about numbers or tasks or programs. It's about running this race of life here on earth, being confident that you are smack dab in the center of God's Will, His perfect and pleasing will. It's about while there doing His will and being used by Him. It's about knowing that God is watching, saying "My child, well done." It's about sensing the smile and joy, the pleasure if you will that is on His face as He watches His child glorifying Him in their lives.

So this morning my blurred vision came into focus, last night I felt God's pleasure and it was good.