“In Your presence is fullness of joy.” Psalm 16:11
Oh yippee, a new struggle. I was finally getting things under control where my emotions were concerned, and wa-bam! Within seconds I experienced something that left me feeling utterly rejected. I suppose this feeling follows insecurity around like a shadow. Sort of like how Robin follows Batman. I guess it’s not a complete stranger to me, then, since I’ve struggled often with insecurity. This time, however, it decided to ditch Robin and transform itself into the Dark Knight as it spread its wings over me. I apologize for the Batman analogy. Not sure where it came from but I liked it!
The sun had already set as its typical backdrop for my struggles. Sure enough, here I was, once again struggling. As I lay in bed, wallowing in my grief, or my rejection, I started to feel myself sink deeper and deeper into the familiar abyss of self-pity as I concentrated all my attention and energy on this rejection. This time, however, something amazing happened. God whispered to me! It wasn’t an audible sound, like, “Traaa-ccyyyy, where are you?” in a sing-song voice. It wasn’t even a real whisper. No, it was silent, but so loud. I was lying on my back when it happened so all I needed to do was lift my head and I found Him! The Psalm above replaced the thoughts of self-pity and pulled me out of the abyss that night. “In Your presence is fullness of joy. In Your presence, is fullness of JOY!” God was telling me He was there with me. All I needed to do was just welcome His presence and I could have complete joy. I decided to stop dwelling on my current situation and instead focus on being face to face with my Maker and my Redeemer, my Friend, who was right there with me.
The prophet Isaiah said that Jesus, “is despised and rejected by men.” (Isaiah 53:3) It still amazes and reassures me to know that Jesus, in the form of man, felt every feeling and emotion we do. Interestingly, Isaiah said He “is” despised and rejected, not He “was.” He said this years before Jesus was even born. As I reflected on that, years after Jesus died, I applied it to what I was going through and felt comforted in knowing He still feels what I feel today. I know He may feel what I feel as I go through it, but He doesn’t want me to stay there.
It struck me how blessed I felt after the fact to have been given that experience. Each night as I lay in bed now, first I say goodnight to my sweetie pie, then I roll over onto my back and turn all my attention to my Maker, spending a little time with Him before falling into peaceful dreamland.
Does It Matter What We Think? It was all about how I perceived my situation. Imagine if I ignored God’s silent call and let myself sink deeper and deeper into my rejection and self-pity? I would have missed out on sweet, one-on-one quiet time. Recently my pastor preached on King Saul and his son Jonathan. King Saul was ready to give in to the Philistines because of what he saw, but Jonathan stepped out in faith and faced the battle. (See 1 Samuel chapters 13 and 14). During the message, something my pastor said really struck me as he talked about Saul’s disobedience to God’s instruction. The Bible says Saul, “felt compelled” (13:12) to take matters into his own hands when he started to feel afraid. I don’t want to be like that. I want to care more about the kingdom and winning the battle than feeling offended or rejected!
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