My Refuge and My Joy
READ: Psalm 16
When my family and I first moved here, there were a lot of adjustments I had to make. I had to make new friends, find my way around the city, and adjust to the climate. It was really hard for me. Here I was in this strange new place, with no one to lean on. Sometimes I felt so alone and so lost. But it was at this time that God seemed so loving to me. God never changes, but my perceptions of Him do. It is like pain and suffering clear away the “I do’s” so that we can see the “God does.” In the middle of all my hurt and pain from moving, God showed me that in Him I can have joy.
At some point in his life, David felt a lot like I did, only his problems were not only emotional, but physical too. He was being attacked by neighboring countries, and his life was being threatened. He too found, in God, a joy that comes directly from God. He wrote in Psalm 16, “Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.’...You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” This joy that David talks about is not just momentary emotional happiness, but the contentment and cheerfulness of faith that goes on and on.
We as Christians have inherited the blessings that David was talking about. That is why whatever we’re doing in the future, whether we are changing schools, or going to college, or staring new relationships, we can know that God is always with us–He is our refuge and our joy.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: When do you feel the saddest? How do you normally deal with this sadness? Why can we have joy during these times of sadness?
PRAYER SUGGESTIONS: Pray that God helps you during your sad times. Pray that the Holy Spirit will comfort you when you are sad and discouraged. Thank God that He protects and gives us joy.