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In His presence, there is fullness of joy
Psalm 16:11 ESV

I admit it, I am addicted to soda. I love the bubbly fizz and refreshment of a cold glass of Pepsi. And there is nothing like that first glass from a new 2-liter bottle! What I don’t like is flat soda. Oh the taste is still there and to some degree, it still satisfies my taste buds but it’s missing something.

Carbonation!

Flat soda just isn’t as refreshing as that first glass, but I’ve learned to make do with it until a fresh supply is restored in my refrigerator.

Life as a widow is like flat soda.

I enjoyed twenty-four “fizz-filled” years with my husband. And the day he died, my life went flat. It was missing a key ingredient–my husband. He was the carbonation (a.k.a. joy) in my life.

It felt like there would never be joy in my life again. But one day the Lord assured me that my life would not always be flat, and that joy was within my grasp. With my analogy in mind, you could say I may have to “go to the store and get more.” In other words, it would take some action on my part.

I needed to stop focusing on how flat my life was and do something about it.

The first thing I needed to do was to spend time in His presence focusing on Christ—who He is, what He’s done to save me, and His promise to keep me. That’s where my joy would be found first and foremost!

HE is the true carbonation in my life.

I also had to fight the urge to isolate, so I started reaching out to friends to create opportunities to enjoy myself instead of waiting for it to knock on my door, so to speak. I started going out each Monday evening for dinner with two other widows in my neighborhood.

In an effort to not dwell on the negatives in my life, I started a blessing jar. Each day I wrote down people or events that were a blessing to me followed by a prayer of thanksgiving. At the end of the year, I read through all of my little sheets of paper. It truly helped me to think on those things that were true, right, noble, pure, excellent, or praiseworthy. (Phil 4:8 NIV)

Joy also comes from the everyday moments in life. The small things like a sunset, front porch sittin’, a beautiful mountain view from a porch swing, a rainbow after a cool summer rain, birds singing, my dog sitting on my lap, a hug from a grandchild.

For a time I discipled a woman in my small group and that brought great joy as I encouraged and helped her in her walk with the Lord. It got my head out of my struggle and gave me a purpose in God’s greater story.

Another great source to increase my joy was turning up the praise music! Hard to be down when there’s so much to sing about.

Life might still at times feel flat but, because I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ, I have the hope of eternal life in heaven. And that is one life that will not be flat! In that great truth is true joy!

My prayer for you today:

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NLT)