Joy in His Presence

Philippians 4:4-5 (ESV)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

I saw a video on line that show real joy. Casey and Rebecca had been separated by thousands of miles for more than two years, and now they were finally reunited. Someone grabbed a video camera to capture the long-awaited reunion as the two friends ran toward each other.

What joy! There were lots of hugs and happy tears and squeals of delight. It was a picture-perfect reunion until . . .

Casey passed out.

Casey, you see, is a miniature schnauzer. He hadn’t seen Rebecca, his owner, for the two years she was working in Slovenia. Being in her presence once again was just too much for him. Overwhelmed, he fainted from pure joy. You have to love the devotion and love of dogs.

If a miniature schnauzer can find such happiness in his owner, how much greater should our joy be in the presence of Jesus!

The psalmist-king David experienced exactly that: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

You and I can find joy—immense joy—in God’s presence. The challenge, however, is this: if you’re like me, there is a lot competing with God for your attention. We have responsibilities with work and family. Many of us volunteer in our churches and communities. Sometimes there is so much to see and do and be that it’s difficult even to get enough sleep.

This kind of busyness has left me, and maybe you, hungry for real joy. Only our heavenly Father and faithful God can pour joy into our lives until we are full . . . until we are satisfied.

Why don’t you make some room in your life today to rest in God’s presence? You may need to turn off a screen, silence your phone, or block out some time on your calendar. There will be some kind of cost involved with this choice, for sure—but I can promise you that any time spent with Him will be so much more than worth it.

In the quiet, you will find that He has been waiting for you all along, and there, in His presence, you will find fullness of joy.

Dear Lord, help us to not lose our joy because of busyness. Help us to slow down and let the things that steal our joy go. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.