Unsurprised by Joy

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Psalm 16:11 (ESV) You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

What it is speaking to me

We expect to get certain things at certain places. You go to McDonald's, you expect to get a burger and fries. You go to Starbucks and you expect to get something that resembles coffee. Our whole consumer lives are built around this concept. Looking for a particular thing, you go to a particular place to acquire it. Simple and predictable.

C.S. Lewis wrote an autobiographical book about being surprised by joy, about moments of delight that showed up unannounced, and in a sense caught him off guard throughout his childhood and early adulthood that eventually pointed him to Jesus. It is not the kind of joy or happiness you worked for. It was more like joy that was just waiting for the right second to knock on his door and surprise him.

I think people can often approach joy more like the title of Lewis' book. Everyone wants to be happy, but they don't know where to find it. So they just end up surprised by it occasionally. On a good day, if we're lucky and everything goes just right.

But David didn't say joy is randomly found. He said fullness of joy is in God's presence. David is describing joy as a location, a place you can actually go stand in. Not partial joy. Full joy, sitting right there at God's right hand, available the moment we show up.

So the real question isn't whether God's presence holds joy. Scripture already settled that. The question is whether we're showing up for it.

What is it saying to you?

When was the last time you sat in God's presence?

Do you actually believe fullness of joy is available to you today, or does that feel like a verse for someone else's life?

What's keeping you from showing up?

What are we going to do about it?

Spend ten intentional minutes in God's presence today. Not necessarily asking for anything, just being there with Him. Notice what it does to your mood.