Stop Searching

“Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”
Psalm 86:1-4

One of my favorite Christian groups is Love & The Outcome, their song “King of My Heart” had been rolling around in my head for a few days and as I sat to write this week’s words of encouragement it was still there. The song is about the truth that life on this planet can be a battle, one that on our own we have little chance of winning. The chorus is an honest acknowledgement of who God is in our lives “You are bigger than any battle I’m facing. You are better than anything I’ve been chasing. Savior and royalty, the only hope in me, Jesus, You are the King of my heart.” It is the phrase “You are better than anything I’ve been chasing” that really stuck in my heart.

When life is beating us up we somehow manage to misplace the joy that the Lord has given us. Our first instinct as humans is to back track and start searching for it, doing and saying all the things we think will bring it back to us. In those times - stop searching. In this week’s passage King David was struggling spiritually and in his prayer he asked the Lord to bring him joy. David doesn’t ask God to show him where to find the joy he’s lost - he asked for a fresh supply. 

This is a recurring idea in David’s psalms. After acknowledging his sin David again asks “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant in me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 52:12). During the dedication of the temple David sings praise for the storms he had faced and says “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…” (Psalm 30:11). Well, I think you get the idea. Joy - real joy is a gift that we are given by a loving, grace filled and merciful God. 

Have you lost your joy? Are you struggling to find it? Stop searching. Jesus is standing nearby - ask him for a fresh supply of what Peter calls “an inexpressible and glorious joy: (1 Peter 1:8), He has an abundant supply and takes great joy in giving it to us.

A Prayer
Father - thank you for Your inexpressible and glorious joy. Forgive for the times when we lose it and go searching for it instead of asking you for more. As we enter this week’s fray, send your spirit to fill us with joy. In the name Jesus, we pray - Amen.