Confidence, Rest, and Joy

I had decided this year that I was going to study the gospels in depth and really learn about who Jesus is and after 4 months of that, I got a little tired of those 4 books, so I moved on to Acts and now I'm addicted.  I love this book so much!  I was reading one of Peter's sermons in Acts 2 today and during this famous sermon he inserts a quote from King David in Psalm 16:8-11.  Here's what it says.

²⁵King David said this about him:

‘I see that the Lord is always with me.

I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

²⁶No wonder my heart is glad,

and my tongue shouts his praises!

My body rests in hope.

²⁷For you will not leave my soul among the dead

or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.

²⁸You have shown me the way of life,

and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’

As I read that passage from Psalms, 3 things stood out for me.  David points out 3 things that every human being wants and where they come from.  As I was reading this, God just brought to life this passage of scripture and I want to share with you what he laid on my hear this morning.  

1. Confidence comes from proximity. (vs. 25)  That sounds weird, but it is so true.  Yesterday I was playing in the backyard with my one year old daughter.  She has only been walking for about 6 weeks and she's still a little shaky on her feet.  The uneven ground and the growing grass made it a challenge for her to walk properly and she stumbled a lot.  She definitely preferred the stability of the sidewalk and driveway.  Her steps were cautious and slow until she would reach out her hand and hold mine.  With me holding her hand she could walk confidently because she knew that if she were to stumble, dad would stabilize her.  When the terrain got to difficult, she would look at me with her big blue eyes and say "up".  She knew the safest way to get where she wanted to go was with me carrying her.  David said I will not be shaken for HE is right beside me.  Satan will try to shake us but when we are walking hand in hand with God we can have the attitude that nothing will discourage or break us because our Father is right next to us.
2. Rest comes from hope. (vs. 26)  In the same way that stress wears us out, hope energizes us.  It's like a day off from work or a lazy morning with no alarm clock.  That break from all the pressures of the world around us gives us life and energy.  Everyone places their hope in something.  If you continually place your hope in things of this world, eventually the disappointment that comes when we place our hope in the temporal will wear you down and steal your hope.  When you don't have hope, you can never take a breath because you are constantly trying to find something new to put hope in.  When your hope is in the things of God, circumstances don't wear on you in the same way because you always have the hope of eternity.  Knowing that this world is temporary becomes a relief to you and you can breathe again.
3. Joy comes from presence.  That's presence not presents.  I love both giving and receiving gifts at Christmastime, but if I  had the choice of being with my family or getting a gift from them, I would choose being with them every time.  Joy comes from not only being in the presence of God but the realization that you are in the presence of God.  When we take time to acknowledge his presence, that feeling of joy overrides that sorrows of life.  When we finally see Christ face to face in heaven, all the hurt and pain from the world we live in will forever be forgotten.

As I was praying today, the presence of God became so real to me and all the things that have tried to drag me down just melted away.  It was a snot on your Bible kind of day.  When God's presence becomes that real to you, that tends to happen.  (on a separate note, no one who reads this will ever ask to borrow my Bible).  I hope this was an encouragement to you today and I challenge you to take time to acknowledge his presence today!