Lasting Joy

Therefore my heart is glad….

Psalm 16:9

God offers joy, an essential ingredient for rebuilding my life after the wreckage of a narcissist relationship. When joy feels illusive, as if playing hide and seek, I have learned to search out pleasurable moments hiding in plain sight—a child’s laughter, a brilliant moon, a playful melody, an inquisitive lizard, or the pattern of a bird’s feather, all stir my thoughts to God’s creativity and the wonder of life.

These fleeting moments help to elevate my mood, but long-term recovery requires more—leaning into the fundamental joy that comes from God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks of this joy in His parting words to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy will be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Jesus also points to additional reasons for a believer’s joy: the Holy Spirit’s presence, God’s power through His residence in our lives, the promises of God to provide and protect, His covenant of love, and the joy that awaits in eternity with Him. These gifts provide the fundamentals I need for the task of re-envisioning my life.

King David acknowledged the abiding joy he found in focusing on his relationship with God in Psalm 16, a song of security and refuge.

I have set my eyes always on the LORD.

With him at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

…Therefore my heart is glad and my

tongue rejoices;

…you will fill me with joy in Your presence,

with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Psalm 16:8-9a,11

Father, thank You for providing everything I need for life. Thank You for sensitizing me to beauty and evidences of grace around me each day. May I remember to see You as the source of these gifts. Thank You that even on the darkest of days I can know the joy of Your presence. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray, amen.

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