I hear more about joy during the Christmas season than any other time of year. We sing Joy to the World. We talk about the joy that has come in the birth of Christ. We read about the angels bringing good news that will cause great joy. Yet, sometimes we just aren’t feeling it! Perhaps, we are trying to feel something that isn’t by emotion; but rather by the knowledge we have in what is true.
There are times this season is anything but joyful. For many, broken hearts, struggles, shattered dreams and sadness cast long shadows over the joy everyone is talking about. We attempt to use glitter and song to lift our spirits to no avail or we butt heads with the season and become a bit scrooge-like. Our hearts are struggling to understand the joy offered to us through the birth of Jesus. What is this joy really about?
This offered joy can be anchored in us by three truths we see in God’s word. The first is discovered in what God has desired since the beginning of time: He longs to have an intimate relationship with us. The God who created the universe, all we see and all that sustains our lives, set forth in the beginning His heart to meet and fellowship with those He created. From walking in the garden with Adam and Eve to residing on the mercy seat in the tabernacle to arriving in a manger, His intentions have been to be with those He loves.
Through this relationship, we see the next truth. Joy is found in the salvation God has offered. Both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we discover people separated from God due to sin. However, God provides a way to restore that relationship. David requests in the Psalms 51 for God to restore to him the joy of God’s salvation. Then, in 1 Peter 1, it states we are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for receiving the salvation of our souls. Joy is ours because God had a plan to draw us back into relationship with Him and our hearts are full because we are no longer separated from Him.
Last, by embracing this offered salvation, Jesus fills us with His joy. In John15, He shares God’s ultimate plan of intimate relationship with Him, and it’s all about abiding with Him, you know—that togetherness thing. Then states He told us this so that His joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. Complete—lacking nothing! It is the desire of both the Father and the Son, for us to have a joy that fills to overflowing and is not lacking in any way. This joy is not connected to our situation or circumstances, but directly to Them and the relationship we share.
As we continue to journey through Advent, ever-closer to the birth of Christ, we can know from where our hope, peace and joy come. We can look beyond the waves of the struggles and challenges in this life and stare into the eyes of the One who came to save (1 Timothy 1:15). The joy He has given us is meant to be shared with those who have yet to find it. Walk in confidence this week of what you have to be joyful about and share it with those you encounter.
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