Three Simple Things to Help You Find Joy in God’s Presence

The only reliable source of joy is in God’s presence. But how can we find that? A little experiment with three common objects helped me focus on God’s presence and find more joy.

Lighted candle. Silver cross. Smartphone.

What do these three items have in common?

At first glance in might not seem they have any connection.

But all three items proved very useful in my quest for my joy.

I have been concentrating on finding joy in God’s presence. Because really, the Lord is the only reliable source of joy. Sunny days make me happy, but this past week we’ve had rain almost every day. Friends bring a smile to my face, but sometimes they are busy–too busy to get together. I love chocolate, but not what it does to my hips.

However, whenever I turn my attention toward God, I discover joy.

So I set out how to do that more often. I asked myself: How could I remind myself to stop and turn my heart to Christ at different times during the day?

Here are three things that worked for me:

1. I lit a candle during my devotional time in the morning. Somehow this made Jesus feel more present as I read His Word to me that day. Christ, the Light of the world, filled the room, illuminated Scripture, and chased all the dark out my heart.

2. I took a small silver cross that usually sits on a bookcase in the family room and started placing it in odd places around the house. Because the cross had sat in that one place on the bookshelf so long, it had become almost invisible. Now when I saw it in the kitchen, near my computer, on my vanity tray it reminded me: Jesus is here. My Savior loves me. Christ makes this place sacred.

3. I set the timer on my smartphone for 20 minutes or 35 minutes or any other random time. When my gadget beeped, it reminded me to stop what I was doing for a minute, close my eyes, and put myself in God’s presence. Sometimes I would also take the time to listen to a Christian song that would help me see Christ in my mind’s eye. Set an alarm on your watch or phone to beep at various times during the day to remind you–God is near.

God is here. What an amazing thought! He is always near, but I don’t usually pay attention.

What I found was that when I did pay attention, I found joy. Joy in that moment. Joy that spilled out into all the other moments in my day.

Psalm 16:11 tells us:

You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;

Joy is found in God’s presence.

And these small items helped me to remember:

God is here.

 Next step: Choose one of the items above to make you more aware of God’s presence. Light a candle. Place a small cross in unusual places. Set your alarm on your smart phone as a call to focus on Christ with you.