Advent: Joy
Have you ever noticed how quickly happiness can come and go? The new car smell fades away, the honeymoon stage passes, hunger comes back after you eat, etc. Happiness is fleeting and all too often we find ourselves consistently giving ourselves to pursuit of a temporary state that is running faster than we can keep pace with.
But isn’t God so amazing that He gives us the Good News that joy is one of His fruits (Gal. 5:22), that the fullness of joy is in His presence (Ps. 16:11), and joy is not something that we need to run a marathon for, but rather something that we need to slow down in order to fully receive, embrace, and live from.
The tough part of this reception is that often what it takes for us to accept joy is go through a season of testing. Jack Hyles says, “Happiness is untested delight. Joy is delight tested.”
Let’s think about this way. This season that we celebrate in the Church is called Advent. A joyous remembrance of the coming of our Savior into the world through the miraculous, virgin birth of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Imagine the testing that this was for Mary, for Joseph, for their families, and for their friends. How hard must this have been to stay in a posture of happiness in the midst of accusations, in the midst of rejections, in the midst of the pain of child birth?
But, how much joy must have been experienced at the birth of Jesus? At His baptism? At His first miracle? All throughout His life, reminding them that God is faithful, that they are not crazy, and that the testing of their happiness in the moment led to a lifetime of sustained joy as they stayed faithful to the dream of God in them.
Richard Foster wrote, “Joy, not grit, is the hallmark of holy obedience. We need to be light-hearted in what we do to avoid taking ourselves too seriously. It is a cheerful revolt against self and pride.” All through our lives we look at many things through the lenses of achieving, perfectionism, and what others are thinking. We look at opportunities as if they were storms, and miss the opportunities within storms for Jesus to bring complete joy and peace.
What if we took a moment to slow down, stop at the manger and remember our call to see through the lens of the One who was, is, and will always be joy? What if we recognized that the testing of our happiness in the moment would lead us to a eternal posture of joy through connection in Christ Jesus?
Beloved, there are moments in each day for you to stop at the manger, to look to the incarnation of joy in Jesus, and root yourself in Him. He is calling you to see the opportunity for joy in the midst of our lives. This may take testing, this may take changing, but in the end, it is worth it. “You show me the path of life. In Your Presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11). The opportunity for joy is before you today. Rest in that joy, beloved. Rest in His Presence. Amen.
