Finding Wise Joy

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled, Finding Wise Joy, was written by Patricia Rabin. The pandemic was winning. That's how it looked to Jason Persoff, an emergency room doctor at a large hospital committed to saving patients with COVID.

How could he give his best? During off hours, he relaxed by taking enlarged photos of something small, individual snowflakes. It sounds crazy, says Dr. Persoff, but finding joy in something small but beautiful is an opportunity to bond with my creator and also to see the world in a way that few people take the time to notice. Wisely looking for such joy to ease stress and build resilience is a high value in the medical profession, the doctor said.

But for everyone, he has this advice. You've got to breathe. You have got to find a way to take a breath and enjoy life. David the psalmist expressed this thought in Psalm 16, as he declared the wisdom of finding joy in God. Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup, he wrote. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will rest secure.

There are many unwise things people do as they try to decompress. Dr. Persoff found the wise path, one that pointed him to the Creator, who offers us the joy of his presence. You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. In him, we find joy evermore.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is Psalm 16. Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord.

Apart from you, I have no good thing. I say of the holy people who are in the land, they are the noble ones in whom is all my delight. Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup. You make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord who counsels me. Even at night, my heart instructs me. I keep 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. My body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Let's pray. Dear Lord, like David, when times are stressful and we feel overwhelmed, remind us of your faithfulness and help us see a glimmer of your light shining in the darkness. Fill our hearts with gladness as we rest securely in your eternal promises. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening today. My name is Joyce Dinkins, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.