Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
King David, was known by God as a man after His own heart. David knew what trials were. He knew what it was like to be hunted down like an animal because Saul wanted him dead. He knew what it was like to have friends and loved ones betray him. He knew what it was like to feel completely helpless in a situation where a child was going to die. Yet in all those times he could still look back and say the words of Psalm 16:11 because he loved, treasured and relied upon God, the keeper of his life. God would like us to be able to say those words too, or even sing them. He wants us to live them out daily with complete trust in Him.
I don’t know about you, but the news can be so frustrating to me and quite often, it can be just downright depressing. With all the misrepresentation that occurs along with the hyper-sensationalism and embellishment that goes on, it quite often creates fear, frenzy and dismay among the masses. We need to be good thinkers so we can decipher the threads of truth in it. We do need to stay abreast of the current issues of the day but once we get the down low, go ahead and turn it off because what I have been noticing is it has caused many of God’s children to take their sight off of Him and put in on the “light and momentary troubles of this world.” Especially in the days we currently find ourselves in. I remember Chuck Swindoll telling about needing to go to a counselor because he was battling borderline depression. The conclusion of his story was the counselor told him to stop watching the news.
So how does God expect us to live during these times? How do we rise above the bombardments of the seemingly doomful messages in the news that we hear? 1) Spend time with God in His Word and in prayer. Why? As we spend time with Him, He makes known to us the paths of life. For the unregenerate person, their path to life is God saving them. For the person who has already accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, He reaffirms those paths of life to us, reminding us that this world is not our home and in that, we understand 2) the “Joy” that comes with it. As we spend time with God, we see how much He cares for us and that He is with us no matter the current conditions of the world. For that reason alone, we should have joy. This isn’t a fleeting Joy or even a minuscule amount of joy. No, it comes in the “Fullness of Joy.” Joy that diminishes the hardships and unknowns that we find ourselves in because we KNOW God is with us and IN us! Lastly, 3) “At God’s right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” These pleasures are always available to the child of God in Christ Jesus. The reason why many of us don’t live a life among the abundant pleasures of God is our focus has been blurred by the problems of the day and the “Unknown Future.” May I encourage and challenge you to dwell in the presence of God so He can cause the fruit of Joy to resonate in you and then to live these days with God’s abundant pleasure upon you.
Love, Prayers and God’s Blessing upon you all,
Pastor Kelly