Joy: When You Walk Into A Room | May 17, 2023

This week we are taking a break from our series on Revelation. 

Have you ever walked into a room full of people at a party by yourself and felt the anxiety of being alone? You scan the room to find a familiar face, and when you do and your eyes lock with that person, what happens? For me, there’s an immediate sense of relief and a feeling of belonging as the other person’s eyes light up with excitement to see me, and vice versa. I quickly make a beeline to my friend to connect, and suddenly I feel secure in a room that didn’t feel secure just moments before.

This is joy.

1 John 1:12 ESV

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

“God designed our brains to seek joy through eyes and facial expressions, through being with people who are glad to be with us,” Jim Wilder & Michel Hendricks tell us in their book, The Other Half of Church. Modern science is catching up with God’s Word!

Psalm 16:11 ESV

You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 4:6-7 ESV

There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
  You have put more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.

In the same way our eyes light up when we see that friend in a crowded room of strangers, God is glad to see us and be with us. He delights in us!

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

 Reflect: Sit quietly with the Lord in prayer today. Picture His face lighting up as you walk in the room to be with Him. Experience that feeling of joy as you see His face and He delights in your presence, and you in His. Talk with Him.