Delight (something or someone that gives) great pleasure, satisfaction or happiness:

Shabbat has been on my mind for a while. I have been pondering and searching for the meaning of delighting in Shabbat. We are told that Shabbat is a delight, and I agree. But there are times that the meaning of delight is lost for me and a new sense appears. Or at least a new perception or facet of this set apart day. I’m a busy homeschooling mother of six who helps manage a small family business and ministry needs Quiet and relaxing rarely show their faces in my day to day life. I’m a firm believer that Adonai’s set apart times are unique and faceted, just like Him. The way that we set these days apart will not look the same as the next person. Isn’t that beautiful, though!? Our Elohim (God) is not a cookie-cutter God. I’m willing to bet that all the tribes that camped around the Tabernacle and eventually in Jerusalem, scattered around Israel and the world, did not keep Adonai’s feasts the same. But they did ensure to stay within the boundaries of the Torah when doing so. Shouldn’t we mimic this model of freely observing set apart times? I recently had a Shabbat experience that reshaped my vision of delight. I woke up like every other day, rolling out of bed, messy-haired, ready for my coffee. Prepared to wrestle with my own ideas of Shabbat and keeping it. I thought about an old friend of mine and wondered how she was doing. As my day progressed, I kept thinking about her. I couldn’t shake it. I knew I had to reach out to her, and I’m glad I did. She responded, and I sensed she needed someone to talk with. Sometimes people need us to take space and sit with them. We ended up getting together and chatting. She told me how she had been crying out to God the previous night. Her tears were cradled in His hands. We wept together on Shabbat. We laughed and felt many emotions that didn’t look like delight to those observing. We ministered to each other in unique ways. As our meeting ended, I realized I had found what I was searching for. 

Delight yourself in Adonai,

and He will give you the requests of your heart. Psalm 37:4 TLV

I found delight wrapped like a comforter in a woman pleading mercy from Adonai. Before my heart’s requests could be fulfilled, I realized that I had to align myself with Adonai’s heart. My heart’s desires changed once I opened up to Abba’s delight. My friend isn’t Torah observant; that doesn’t matter to Elohim. Why should it be to us? But she knows God, and He sees and knows her. My day wasn’t quiet and relaxing. It was full of emotions and pleadings for Adonai to send those who would help her in her time of need. To help me in my desperate need of understanding. Yeshua healed on Shabbat; he fed the hungry, clothed the needy, loved the hurting. Yeshua fulfilled it all in the natural and spiritual sense, especially on Shabbat. My delight was and is found in doing the same. We can’t worship Shabbat. We can’t be idle on the needs of others. When we do, we are breaking Torah. Does spiritual healing and feeding cease because it’s Shabbat? I’m not suggesting we stop observing Shabbat in our own ways; I’m simply sharing how multi-faceted we each are. We should not feel shame for thinking we broke the commandments if we were ministering or being ministered to. Yeshua showed us the true meaning of Shabbat. There’s freedom when the yoke of man is peeled away—showing us the delight of Adonai. Healing took place for me this Shabbat. I felt gut-wrenching sorrow intertwined with a deep-seated love. I needed ministering too. I needed to be transparent and down to earth with Abbas’s daughter. Set apart doesn’t mean too holy for any earthly good. I’m starting to believe that set apart is being real, raw, and vulnerable about who Yeshua is in our lives. Our struggles and victories. This is what all people need, a real connection—no façade of being perfect but genuine humanness of learning to be like our Messiah. I think to myself, what will I do now to keep this new found flame ablaze? I found a treasure and I don’t want to loose it. There are many people hurting in this world. How can I use my gifts, breath and self to sit with them? How about you? I pray your Shabbats are delightful and that you don’t struggle to live up to some faulty image, but the image of Yeshua. However that may look for you in your journey.

Works cited:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/delight