In Your Presence There is Fullness of Joy
God’s Presence in Grieving: A Personal Journey
Sherry Kendrick, Guest Writer
TODAY’S TREASURE
How can my heart be glad though? How can my whole being rejoice? How can I find joy now that my husband is gone? Sometimes it all feels like too much. Too much suffering. Too much sadness. But then I come back to this deep truth: God’s presence is with me and in that presence is fullness of joy. The joy of this truth – HE IS WITH ME. I am His child and HE IS WITH ME. He will never leave me. He will never forsake me. Yes, I can rejoice in that! He is not absent even in the midst of suffering, death and grief. I watched Him faithfully keep the promise to be WITH Mike. Now Mike is safe and whole and well WITH Him. Yes, I can rejoice in that.
As I’ve approached the one-year anniversary of Mike’s death, I can see how God has kept His promises to me. He is indeed making known to me the path of my life. In my life I have had many roles - -daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, caregiver, children’s director, friend, pastor’s wife. Three of these roles technically changed when Mike died – wife, caregiver and pastor’s wife. Instead, I added a new role – widow. This one is a struggle. The Lord is teaching me that the path of life is not found in my roles. My identity and purpose are found in Him. I recently listened to a podcast at enCourage on Life-Giving Leadership by Susan Hunt and Karen Hodge. Here is a quote from that podcast.
“A life-giving leader sees how all parts of life and ministry fit together and is increasingly passionate about the small moments and tasks because she has a vision of the whole. The Westminster Confession tells us that `the Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God.’ When we see every moment of life as one part of the whole of life and that the purpose of our lives is to glorify God, then it helps us see Scripture, to see life and to see ministry not as segments not as individual components but as consenting parts which all together will somehow tell the gospel story. When we get that clarity of Scripture, life and ministry, the wonderful thing that happens is that the mundane becomes majestic.”
I’ve listened to this multiple times because it helps me understand how gladness, rejoicing, and joy exist during this season of my life. Scripture teaches us that all of its parts make up the whole to give Him glory. My life and ministry can do the same thing. All the parts of my life – the seasons (with and without Mike) and the roles (wife and widow) – can make up a beautiful whole to give Him glory and tell His gospel story through it. As a widowed pastor’s wife, my identity is found in my Lord, my chosen portion. It is found in my Good Shepherd who cares for me and it is found in my Savior who died for me. I am His child and His presence is WITH ME. He is making known to me that my path of life - my purpose - is to continue to give Him glory in this new role and in this new calling. He will take what seems to be mundane and hard and somehow make it majestic for the sake of the Gospel. So I can rejoice, be glad even, as the tears roll down my face with the truth that only in His presence there will be fullness of joy.
PRAYER
Pray through Psalm 16 and personalize it for your life and circumstances.
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
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Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.