“For You make him most blessed forever; You make him glad with the joy of Your presence.”
Psalm 21:6
When life gets hard, it’s tempting to look all over the place for our joy. We can’t seem to find any joy where we are, so we go searching for it… at the mall for a new outfit, at a coffee shop pouring our heart out to a good friend, or to the salon for a massage or pedicure.
And while all of those things are not bad in moderation and often very appreciated at times, any joy they bring is very fast fleeting. Believe me – I know. They help bring a little “pick me up” while they last, but as soon as the experience is over, the ache and need to search for something else to make us feel happier is back.
The kind of joy that is spoken of in Psalm 21:6 doesn’t rise or fall on circumstances or events. It’s a joy that sweeps over a person as a result of God’s presence. The simple fact that the presence of God dwells in her and goes with her as she goes about her day makes her glad. In other verses in the book of Psalms, the writers state that there is joy in God’s presence. So if joy accompanies His presence, it must influence us and fill our hearts as God’s presence surrounds us.
I don’t want to have to go looking for joy, and I certainly can’t just manufacture it whenever I want some - as much as I may try sometimes. What great news it is that the lasting joy I’m looking for is right here with me and I only have to be choose to let it sustain me, as I let God be enough for me.
And when I do, that joy will end up spilling over onto my friend at the coffee shop or the manicurist at the salon. It won’t be about what I need that day, but what I can give.
Because God’s presence - full of joy - will be there too.
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