a joyful presence

how many of us delight in being in our Father’s presence? how many of us wake up excited to spend time with God? or does it feel like a chore? does it feel like something that you are checking off the box so you can move on to the next thing?

i hadn’t started writing my blog yet or really even thinking of many ideas and today snuck up on me like i’m sure days sneak up on everyone. when i sat down to start thinking about what i wanted to write about nothing was coming to mind and i was getting kind of annoyed because i want to do other fun things today on my day off. i picked up my Bible and it opened to Psalms, so i decided i would start flipping through until i found something i would want to write about and got reminded of the most beautiful thing and read the most fitting verse – ‘You make him glad with the joy of Your presence’ (Psalm 21:6). while i was looking for a quick way to get this done and move on to my next thing, God reminded me to have joy in His presence.

isn’t it funny how that always works? i don’t know about y’all, but whenever i get in His presence it is never for a moment too long. I am always reminded of His love for me, His faithfulness over my life, and the joy that i get from spending time with my Heavenly Father. i believe those times when being in His presence feels like a burden, are actually the times when i see Him show up most. i feel like it’s a triumph over Satan – a victory of us making the decision that the time i spend with God is going to be more joyful than whatever else i have planned, that it is going to be more rewarding than whatever else is on my agenda.

don’t buy the lie that Satan is pushing. Satan knows how much joy comes from us being in communion with our Heavenly Father, the only way that Satan can disrupt that is by getting you to believe that your time spent with God is not all that rewarding, not all that joyful.

i want to encourage you – if you have been feeling like spending time with Jesus is a burden, pray that God would help you to find the joy in Him again. if you have been treating prayer and reading like a checklist, pray that God would spark in you a passion to be in communion with Him. you are not alone in those feelings. but i do know that buying into this lie once makes it easier to buy into a second time, then a third time, and next thing you know it’s been 2 weeks… 1 month… 4 months… since you have opened your Bible, since you have really prayed, since you have really spent time in the presence of your Heavenly Father.

being in His presence is a joy, don’t let it ever feel like anything else.

-n0tbychance