Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. (Ps. 21:6)
Do you feel a bit overwhelmed? Maybe another bill showed up yesterday, and you still haven’t scraped together the funds to pay the one before that. Maybe you haven’t slept more than three hours at a time for so many days, you’ve lost count. Maybe you’re frustrated at the lack of justice for someone you love. Or maybe you’re buried in a depth of worry that no one seems to understand, so you’ve stopped trying to explain it.
Jesus didn’t hide the truth from us. He said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). He knew it would happen to us, so you can rest in the comfort that he knows right now whatever presses against your heart. But in that same verse, Jesus also said, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” And that overcoming he promised isn’t strictly something we wait for in the future. We can live in it right now.
Psalm 21 urges us to pause so we can see God’s goodness, which is every bit as present as our overwhelming trials. He does bless our days and provide joy in the simplicity of his presence beside us. It’s our choice—and even our responsibility—to shift our focus so we can see the beauty of the blessings rather than being derailed by our dilemmas.
Let his promise of joy be greater than the pummeling of problems.
Bekah Shaffer lives in Kokomo, Indiana, and enjoys endless coffee, scrapbooking, speaking, and planning adventures with her husband, Ryan.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
