The SWEET SPOT!

♪ In Your presence, that's where I am strong

In Your presence, O Lord, my God

In Your presence, that's where I belong

Seeking Your face, touching Your grace

In the cleft of the rock

In Your presence, O God* ♫

 

I was following another rabbit trail the other morning while I continued pursuing my study on Biblical JOY and came across I Chronicles 16:27 when King David had triumphantly brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and the priests and people were declaring the wonders of the Lord God saying,

“Splendor and majesty are in His presence. Strength and JOY are where He is.”      (God’s Word ©)

The celebration of the people declaring that, “Strength and JOY are where He is” immediately caught my fancy!  And the King James Version really brought it home by translating the people’s vocal rejoicing as “strength and gladness (or joy) are in his place.” 

Think about that comment for a moment in the light of our last few blog posts… God has a particular location of Strength and JOY… and it is at His place!  The phrase “in His place” is defined by the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions as “a standing place, a post, a locality, an office, station, or as a special place.”  When I read that “His place” was described as “a special place”, I couldn’t help but to push back in my desk chair and shout out… “JOY is God’s special place… it is His SWEET SPOT!”

Dictionary.com defines “a Sweet Spot” as “a point, range or particular set of conditions that will achieve the most desirable or effective outcome.”  That definition explains why the JOY of the Lord is such a powerful tool… or maybe better said now… such a powerful PLACE for us to be throughout the ups and downs of our daily lives!  So, if it is God’s SWEET SPOT… then it’s the SPOT that I want to run to when I perceive some rough, or as they say out here… “Severe Weather” in the forecast!

I was watching a news documentary on Fox Nation last night while I was preparing dinner and when the well-known conservative political figure being interviewed spoke of things suddenly being turned upside down in his life, I immediately replied (to the screen… does anyone else do that?) and emphatically declared that my world was turned upside down when Piper was attacked with sickness and then passed on to her heavenly home.

The only difference being though… was that the man on the TV was angry and confused while I had chosen a course of peace and JOY in the presence of the Lord… side by side with Him… in His SWEET SPOT!  That is not to say that it wasn’t hard… in fact the most difficult time in my life… but I was able to go through most of it with a JOYFUL and expectant attitude of the goodness of God working in our situation… which infused me with an atmosphere of peace, that helped me to be a steadying influence, most importantly to my wife, and then also to those we interacted with.

As the song chorus above declares, in His presence… in His SWEET SPOT, is precisely where we belong.  It is where we become and stay strong.  It is the locality where we come face to face with our heavenly Father, are touched by His grace and find safety and protection in the cleft of the ROCK… Jesus Christ!

It is the place where I am assured to find the SWEET SPOT of my life again now that Piper has been promoted to heaven… where she now resides in the physical, tangible SWEET SPOT of God! 

For us, it is a spiritual place, the point, the range or particular set of conditions that will achieve the most desirable or effective outcome for us in our daily lives!

In His Presence, that’s where I want to be… it is the place… the SWEET SPOT where we belong… wouldn’t you agree?

Have a wonderful week, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s best in your lives

 

*https://lyricstranslate.com