even better

At work we use a simple measurement of success: customer delight. Satisfaction is what happens when we get exactly what we expected. Delight is an emotion we feel when we get something even better. 

This morning, reading in Acts 3:1-6, I read something that to me communicated the different perfectly: 

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

“Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’

“Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”

Here’s a crippled man whose daily existence was pretty much the same: either at the temple or some other crowded place, he begged. He sat there all day long, pleading for a few pennies here and maybe some dimes there. When Peter and John walked by, that’s exactly what expected. He would have been satisfied with a few coins.

But he got something even better. For the first time in his life, he could walk! Not only that, he could jump, and he did. He followed them into the temple leaping and praising God.

It reminds me that God wants to do more than just satisfy us; he wants us to delight in him. We have things we want in life, usually having to do with money and stuff, but what he gives us is even better. He showers us with truly good things so that, like the crippled man, we’re so amazed and pleased that we cavort like young horses and sing like canaries.

At least, that’s what we ought to be doing. If we’re not, we’re probably not seeing God at work.