For Thy Pleasure

In eighth grade my class took a field trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. Growing up near the shore, I thought that I had a pretty good idea of the plethora of aquatic life that pulsed upon the ocean floor. But, I had no idea. As I walked from one aquarium to the next on eye level with these beautiful and sometimes bizarre looking creatures, I found myself captivated by a submersed symphony of sea-creatures who seemingly were putting on a show just for me.

I specifically remember this one part of the aquarium that was completely in the dark. I was told that some oceanic creatures live at such depths that they have never seen the light of day. In fact, exposure to any amount of light would do them harm. So, as I entered into their dark domain, I felt as though I was walking into a dark room in a photography class. Not an ounce of light anywhere. I wondered momentarily how we would see whatever was in this room. And, then they came alive. One of the most fantastic displays of movement, color and creativity that my eyes have ever gazed upon. These small fish began illuminating like light-bulbs as they swam. The vast array of iridescent colors darting around, lighting up at will, made any 4th of July grand finale' pale in comparison. The scene was nothing less than brilliant.

I sat mesmerized, subconsciously praising God for the privilege of seeing something so spectacular. Then, I stopped mid-thought. I wondered, why would God create something so beautiful and set it loose in a dark and lonely abyss? Why place such a rich concoction of color and creativity so far down and so far removed from human human enjoyment? As I left the aquarium that day,these thoughts went with me.

Many years later I sit here having grown in my understanding of God. I used to think that God created good things entirely for our pleasure. That is, He created the world simply for us to enjoy it and to explore it. But, I've gradually have come to recognize that God has not created primarily for MY good pleasure, but for HIS good pleasure. Revelation 4:11 states this. It says, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

I was so confused on why a Creator would create amazing fish that no eye could enjoy, and all the while failed to realize that these fish never escape the eyes of our God. He has been enjoying them since the day He created them! These little flickering pixels of blue and green neon that glow in the dark bring great delight to the One who created them. They dance and flutter for His delight.

Dallas Willard, contemplating on the created world writes some insightful words from his own experience of being "overcome" on a breath-taking beach in South Africa. "Gradually there crept into my mind the realization that God sees this [His creation] all the time. He sees it, experiences it, knows it from every possible point of view, this and billions of other scenes like and unlike it, in this and billions of other worlds. Great tidal waves of joy must constantly wash through His being. It is strange to say, but suddenly I was extremely happy for God and thought I had some sense of that an infinitely joyous [life that He leads] and of what it might have meant for Him to look at His creation and find it 'very good.' We pay a lot of money to get a tank with a few tropical fish in it and never tire of looking at their brilliant iridescence and marvelous forms and movements. But God has seas full of them, which He constantly enjoys" (Divine Conspiracy, 63).

"Undoubtedly, [God] is the most joyous being in the universe. The abundance of His love and generosity is inseparable from His infinite joy. All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness" ( Divine Conspiracy, 62).