The Way of Life
How do you experience the joy of God’s presence?
Verse of the Day
“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”
Today’s Devotional
How often do you open up a map on your device and ask for directions? When I do this, there are often several different routes that all end up at the desired destination. Which route is best depends on the circumstances and my preferences. When I read today’s verse, I wish there was a way to know THE WAY, specifically, that God wants me to go. Sometimes I want details of God’s will for my life that I am not given.
Here’s what God has given us: we have some pretty solid direction on how to prioritize our life and our actions. God needs to be first. He wants our total allegiance, over our own desires and preferences. He wants us to treat His other kids well, even if we don’t like them or agree with them. Maybe the route we each take to make God our first priority and to love others depends on our individual circumstances and preferences.
I believe this verse is differentiating the “now” from the “then”. If I will follow God’s way of life, then I can experience the joy of His presence today, in this earthly life. In addition, if I will follow God’s way of life, I will get to enjoy the pleasures of spending eternity in His presence.
I have no idea what heaven will be like, nor do I intend to guess. But I can tell you my experience with the joy of God’s presence in this life. I have lived through some difficulties in my life that God carried me through. In the middle of those personal storms, I would have sworn that God had forsaken me, even though I knew the Bible says otherwise. In order to come through those difficult times with my faith and sanity intact, there was work involved. A great analogy for this (that I am borrowing from Lysa Terkeurst) is a home remodeling project. There is lots of mess and what feels like destruction in order to build something new and beautiful. This process is probably part of God’s way of life in order for us to become more like Jesus.
So how do I feel the joy of God’s presence today? There are so many ways.
-A song that speaks to my soul
-A red bird that appears while I am praying
-A kind act from another human
-A word of encouragement (especially when it comes from an unexpected source)
-The sense of purpose that comes from serving others
-A verse from the Bible that speaks to exactly what I need in that moment
-When circumstances align in a way that I did nothing to orchestrate.
We can make intentional choices if we want to experience God’s presence in a more tangible way. I believe that God inhabits our praise. I get a sense of God’s nearness when I am at church and I get lost in the words and music of praise. I get that same feeling when I abandon myself in praise no matter where I am. I get a sense of the joy of God’s presence when I make choices that go against what I want in order to be of service to someone else.
There is joy available to us today. We can experience the joy of God’s presence on this earth. But we have to choose His path and not our own. Which is not always an easy choice to make.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How do you experience God’s presence? Does it bring you joy?
How can you choose God’s path today instead of your own?
In what ways do you need God’s guidance for your life?
How can you abandon yourself in praise today?